


The Worst Thing

by sssssssim



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 07:02:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8240384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: Before the start of Hermione's fifth year, a bleeding and crying Draco Malfoy walks into 12 Grimmauld Place, asking the Order for help. This is the story of the war against Voldermort and Draco's part in it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I did that thing again. I watched the movies and wrote as I went.

Things were strained at 12 Grimmauld Place. It was understandable, Hermione thought. Harry was still irked that she and Ron hadn’t written all summer, and he was anxious about his Ministry hearing. Everyone else, whom there were a lot of, they were all anxious about Harry’s fate, about his safety, but the return and rise of Voldermort hung over all their heads, heavy and terrifying.

Yes, things were strained. And yes, it was understandable, but that didn’t mean Hermione felt better about it.

Dinner was a sordid affair, with Remus explaining to Harry that the Daily Prophet was dismissing his claims, and the Order’s theory that Voldermort is looking for something he didn’t have last time.

And Mrs. Weasley and Mad-Eye were trying to keep Harry out of it, and Harry, stubborn and brave Harry, was offering to join the Order.

They were all startled when there was a knock on the front door.

‘Maybe it’s Severus’, Sirius frowned.

‘Why would he knock?’, Remus argued. ‘Dumbledore?’

They all heard the door opening and closing, and shuffling footsteps down the hall.

When Mrs. Weasley turned around and Draco Malfoy came into view, Hermione gasped. So did Mrs. Weasley and Ginny, while the older members of the Order took out their wands.

But Malfoy didn’t look like he was about to start a fight. His white shirt was rumpled and covered in blood, his hair was a mess and he was crying openly.

He had his wand in his hand, but it was limp by his side.

‘How did you even get in here?’, Ron asked, totally bewildered.

Sirius got up and spoke as he made his way around the table, to where Malfoy stood.

‘His mother is a Black, of course he can get in. Draco’, Sirius said somewhat menacingly, ‘what happened?’

For the first time, Malfoy looked up. He locked eyes with Sirius and spoke shakily. Hermione had never heard him speak any other way than confident and cocky and it confused her to see him like this.

‘They’re dead.’, Malfoy said in a voice so low it was barely heard. ‘He killed them. Dead.’

He swayed on his feet and Sirius grabbed his shoulders, steadying the blonde boy. Malfoy didn’t even look up.

From where she stood, Hermione couldn’t see Malfoy’s face anymore, but she saw his left arm and the blood it was dripping onto the ground.

‘Sirius’, she said quickly. ‘He’s bleeding.’

As Sirius looked down to Malfoy’s arm, the boy shuddered.

‘I need help.’

And if that wasn’t a shock, the complete silence that fell upon the room made it so.

Sirius not so gently grabbed a hold of his left wrist and pulled up the bloodied shirt.

Hermione gasped again, gagging against all the blood and the cut up flesh.

‘He made you a Death Eater?’, Sirius roared.

‘That’s not a tattoo’, Hermione realized, horrified. ‘It’s… carved.’

Malfoy fell to the ground then, as Sirius just stared at him. Hermione moved before she properly thought about it, ignoring the way both Harry and Ron said her name.

She fell to her knees next to Malfoy and unbuttoned his shirt, horrified to see all the marks on his chest. Cuts and bruises, blood, so much blood.

Malfoy wasn’t looking at her. She said his name twice, the first time she ever addressed him as ‘Draco’, but not even that worked. But when she grabbed his face with both of her hands and angled it up, he seemed to focus on her.

‘What happened?’, she asked as gently as she could.

‘He took the Manor’, Malfoy started. ‘Wanted me to…’, he shook his head, his breathing increasing. ‘I couldn’t. I said no. So he … He made me watch. As he killed them. And then… this… I ran, I-‘

He couldn’t breathe anymore. Malfoy was trying to get air into his lungs, his mouth was open and there were tears still falling down his face. His skin was cold against her fingers, making her think he was a walking corpse.

‘You’re going into shock’, Hermione concluded. ‘You’re having a panic attack.’

He just kept trying to breath, not looking away from her eyes.

‘Fuck’, Hermione breathed out. ‘Is he coming for you?’, she asked a lot more strongly than she thought she was capable of. ‘Is Voldermort coming for you?’

Malfoy shook his head, but didn’t manage to speak any words.

Hermione looked to Sirius, who looked just as confused as she did. He was angry as well, but not at Malfoy. It was clear Sirius had no idea what to do, and Hermione didn’t either.

But Malfoy was shaking, he was crying, still struggling to breathe. And he was bleeding, he was probably in pain and, most importantly, he came to them for _help_.

‘Draco’, Hermione said gently, squeezing his cheeks to make him look up at her again. ‘I’m going to hit you with a sleeping charm. You need to rest, and we’ll … take care of your wounds. You’re safe here, that I can promise. All right?’

He just nodded, tried to say ‘thank you’, but couldn’t actually manage to do it, still gasping for breath.

Hermione made quick work of taking out her wand and he closed his eyes before she spoke the spell. As he fell unconscious, Hermione grabbed his shoulders and lowered him slowly to the floor, making sure he didn’t hit his head.

‘What the bloody hell just happened?’, Ron said after a lengthy pause.

‘This could be a trick’, Harry followed up, making Hermione stand up.

‘He’s half dead, Harry’, she breathed out. ‘Regardless of his motives, we need to-‘, she faltered. ‘I’m not so good with healing spells this complex.’

‘I am’, Mrs. Weasley suddenly sprung into action. ‘Hermione, dear, help me carry him up. He’ll take your room, you’ll have to share with Ginny. And Ginny, love, please bring us some warm water and washcloths. Ask Kreacher for some gauze, and if there isn’t any…’, the older woman faltered. ‘Then make some!’

With an angry huff, she levitated Malfoy off the ground and out of the room. Hermione wordlessly followed.

◊

She started crying as she cleaned up his torso, because there were so many wounds. His skin was cut, blood still pouring out, even as Mrs. Weasley said healing spell after healing spell.

The worse was the cut on his arm. Hermione thought he was incredibly lucky, because it would have been easy for them to cut his veins, bringing him to a slow but certain death.

Still, looking at the carved out Dark Mark, stark red against his very pale skin, Hermione knew that Draco Malfoy wasn’t anywhere near lucky.

‘How is he still alive?’, Ginny said in a whisper. ‘Look at him, he should have been dead.’

‘He’s a lot stronger than he looks’, Mrs. Weasley said pointedly. ‘Clearly. The Malfoys have always been powerful because of their positions, but the Blacks… they have always been powerful, period. Apparently’, her voice turned softer, ‘Draco takes after his mother, as well.’

‘So you don’t believe it’s a trick’, Hermione said, slowly, watching the older woman.

She looked a lot more tired than Hermione was used to seeing.

‘No’, Mrs. Weasley shook her head. ‘I don’t think it is.’

They worked in silence after that, and when they were done, Hermione said she’d stay behind. It would be best if he didn’t wake up alone.

Mrs. Weasley seemed grateful, but Ginny threw her a look. Hermione ignored it.

◊

Malfoy woke up a couple of hours later with a gasp, and he fell off the bed in his haste to move.

‘You’re at 12 Grimmauld Place’, Hermione said, kneeling next to where he was still on the ground. ‘You came here, remember?’

‘Oh gods’, he breathed out, leaning his back against the bed, relaxing his legs in front of him. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

When he opened his eyes and looked to her, Hermione smiled.

‘Mrs. Weasley brought food’, she pointed to the nightstand where a tray filled to the brim with food and sweets stood. ‘I’ll leave you to it, I just thought I’d be best if you didn’t wake up alone.’

He just kept looking at her.

‘When you’re ready’, she said gently, ‘come downstairs. It’s the middle of the night, but Remus and Sirius hardly sleep anyway. They want to hear you out. All right?’

Malfoy swallowed thickly, but he also nodded.

‘I wasn’t followed here?’

Hermione blinked. ‘Not that I know of. I mean, there hasn’t been an attack in the time you slept, so no, I would assume not.’

‘Good’, he nodded once. ‘Shit.’

‘You can say that again’, Hermione breathed out, knowing full well she shouldn’t have.

But it made something soften in Malfoy’s eyes, surprisingly enough.

‘Could you wake up Potter?’, he said next, shocking Hermione into silence. ‘He needs to hear this, and I… rather I’d only say it once.’

‘Of course’, she nodded, before looking away to a corner of the room. ‘We got Dobby to sneak out some of your things. He… he didn’t go anywhere else except for your room.’

‘That’s for the best’, Draco breathed out, before shaking his head and looking away from her. ‘Thanks, Granger, I’ll be out in a minute.’

‘Ten’, she said quickly. ‘Ten minutes, because you need to eat. I know you don’t want to, but your body needs it.’

‘Okay’, he said around a sigh. He still looked bad, exhausted even if he slept for a good six hours.

‘I’ll make some coffee’, she said, relishing in the grateful look he threw her.

Hermione got up and left, closing the door gently behind her. She took a deep breath before stepping into Harry and Ron’s room, and another one when she saw that Harry was in the middle of a nightmare.

She woke him up and made him a cup of coffee as well.

◊

When Malfoy came into the kitchen, dressed in black slacks and a black shirt, his eyes moved to her immediately. Hermione gave him his cup of coffee as she made her way out of the room. He stopped her with a hand on the shoulder, which he quickly took away.

‘You should stay’, was all he said before turning around, and Hermione shared a long look with Harry, but she did stay.

‘How are you feeling?’, Sirius asked kindly, once Malfoy sat down next to him and across from Remus.

The boy snorted, before shaking his head. ‘Sorry. Let’s just get this over with, please? All pleasantries aside.’

‘Fine’, Sirius said tightly. ‘Then start talking.’

Malfoy took a deep breath and looked away from everyone’s eyes, but he did start talking.

‘A week ago, he just showed up. With Pettigrew and a … giant snake. Just apparated in the middle of our dining room. He pushed Father away from the head of the table, ordered Mother to set up a room for him and prepare for guests. Over the next days, people started showing up. Death Eaters.’

He sighed. ‘Snape was one of them, but’, Malfoy looked up to Sirius, narrowing his eyes, ‘I think you already knew that.’

It took a beat, but Sirius nodded.

‘So he’s still on your side’, Malfoy went on. ‘That’s good, I guess. He’ll give you information.’

‘Go on, Draco.’, Remus said. ‘What happened last night?’

He looked away again.

‘There were a lot of people there. And one of them, Rumlow, he said that Snape couldn’t be seen doing things for the Dark Lord. That his presence at Hogwarts was good, but not enough. He said maybe I should help. At school.’

‘Help with what?’, Remus asked.

‘I don’t know’, Malfoy shook his head.

Hermione felt Harry stiffen next to her, probably not believing him.

‘I really don’t’, Malfoy turned towards Harry. ‘I know you don’t believe me, but… Anyway, I said no.’

‘He wanted you to become a Death Eater’, Sirius said slowly.

Malfoy nodded, stiffly. ‘I tried to find a reason, some sort of explanation for why I couldn’t but… Nothing worked, of course. Father tried to convince me, force me.’

Sirius snarled at that, making a miniscule smirk appear on Malfoy’s lips before he went on.

‘Voldermort cut him off. Listen to your father, he told me. That’s your purpose in life.’, Malfoy shook his head, obviously willing his voice to come out even.

‘When I still refused, he cut Fathers’ throat. At least _he_ died quickly. He started torturing me after that, but I still refused. So he killed Mother.’, his voice shook and Hermione could see the tears in his eyes.

Malfoy looked up at Sirius. ‘He killed her slowly. With his hands, like some barbaric…’ He took a deep breath, but didn’t finish the thought.

‘And I saw it all. That’s why I came here, I think, because I remembered Mother telling me stories about this place. She loved it.’

‘How did you escape?’‚ Harry asked next.

‘Not all Death Eaters are as smart as Snape.’, Malfoy rolled his eyes, looking like himself again. ‘The one who was supposed to keep an eye on me looked the other way, so I apparated here.’

‘Hermione asked you yesterday if Voldermort will be coming for you and you said no’, Remus said. ‘How do you know that?’

‘He talked, as he tortured me. One of the things he said was that if I run, he won’t come for me. He promised he’ll kill me eventually, because it will get to that, but he’ll leave me alone till that moment comes.’

‘And you believed him?’, Harry asked.

Draco looked at him. ‘If there’s one thing that Voldormort can be valued for, is that he never really lies.’

Harry huffed‚ clearly not buying it. Malfoy just shrugged it off.

‘There’s more’, he went on. ‘He needs something. Something that my Father could have taken from the Ministry, but couldn’t have used.’

Hermione didn’t like the way Sirius and Remus were looking at one another.

‘You’re not going to tell us what that is’, Harry said, angrily.

‘I promise I’ll tell you’, Sirius said quickly. ‘When you’ll need to know.’

Harry huffed and stormed out of the kitchen, and Hermione knew there was no use to follow him, he needed to calm down on his own.

Draco sighed, deeply. ‘One more thing’, his expression turned into a very serious one.  ‘I’m doing this, whether you like it or not.’

‘Doing what, exactly?’, Sirius narrowed his eyes.

‘Fighting alongside you against Voldermort’, there really was no hesitation on his part. ‘But I wish to do it in the light.’

Of course, they all frowned at that, but it was Hermione that asked for explanations. Malfoy didn’t look at her.

‘I’m going with Potter to the Ministry tomorrow. I’m telling them that Voldermort’s back, that he’s killed my parents and that I’m not on his side anymore.’

‘Draco’, Remus said strongly, ‘that might not be-‘

‘I’m doing it’, he interrupted swiftly, before getting up from his chair. ‘You can confer on it, you three brains’, he included Hermione in this, ‘and the rest of the Order. But I’m doing it no matter what. I’m sure you’ll reach the same conclusion as I did, that it will be for the best on the long run.’

He was out of the room quickly after, not sparing even a glance back.

‘Well’, Sirius said after a while, ‘that’s my cousin alright. Stubborn to a fault.’

‘That is nothing like the Draco Malfoy we knew’, Hermione said quickly, before sighing. ‘But being tortured half to death and seeing your parents getting murdered can change a person.’

‘So you trust him?’, Sirius seemed surprised by this.

Hermione shrugged, truly not knowing the answer. ‘I guess we’ll see.’

◊

The morning of Harry’s hearing, the Daily Prophet’s front page announced the death of Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, in what appeared to be a crime of passion. Draco was written down as missing, so everyone was surprised when he showed up at the Ministry.

Everyone was even more surprises by the statement he gave. Nobody believed him, of course, the Minister laughed in his face and told him he should be more careful with what he said, in fear of not shaming his late father’s name.

Draco and Harry both came back angry and spent the rest of the day locked up in their respective rooms. Until dinner, when Mrs. Weasley all but dragged them to the kitchen.

It was just her family now, and Hermione and Harry, with Sirius but without the rest of the Order. Still, there was a very awkward silence when Malfoy stepped into the room.

He turned to face Ginny.

‘I’m sorry, young lady, but I don’t know your name.’

Ginny’s jaw dropped. ‘Are you freaking for real, Malfoy?’

He looked away, nodding even as he blushed slightly.

‘Ginny’, Hermione supplied. ‘Her name is Ginny.’

‘Very well.’, he said. ‘I’ll just grab some food and be out of your way.’

‘You will not’, Mrs. Weasley said strongly. ‘Dinner is the little piece of normality we can afford with everything crazy happening around us. So sit down.’

He was looking a little wide eyed, especially when Ginny forcefully shoved him into a chair.

They started eating, but with all the awkward silence in the world condensed into the small kitchen.

‘Draco’, Sirius finally said. ‘You’re going back to Hogwarts, are you not?’

He didn’t hesitate in nodding.

‘Good’, Mrs. Weasley smiled. ‘We’re going to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get what you need. Dumbledore has sent your letter here.’

‘With all due respect, ma’am’, Malfoy said slowly, ‘I don’t think it’s best to… for people to see me with you.’

‘It will be best, actually’, Hermione said, making all the heads around the table turn to her.

‘How, exactly, will that be best?’, Harry asked, slowly.

‘Let’s face it, most people don’t believe Voldermort is alive, so they don’t believe Draco. The ones that do believe him, I’m sorry, but they’re probably Death Eaters or their children, and they’ll consider Draco a traitor.’

‘Well you’re not wrong’, he deadpanned.

‘Right, so… If people see you with us, with the Weasley’s… maybe that’ll help. It’ll sell your story better.’

‘But do I want that?’, Draco threw her a look.

‘Yes’, she didn’t back down. ‘Yes, you should want that. Cause if not, you’re going to have a terrible school year and an even harder time after that.’

They glared at each other for a while, but it was interrupted by Sirius.

‘She’s right’, was all he said, but it made Draco defeat completely.

‘Of course she is. Fine’, he looked to Mrs. Weasley. ‘I’ll come with you to Diagon Alley tomorrow, and the people will see Draco Malfoy shopping with the Weasley family. That’ll definitely convince them the end is near.’

‘You, my child’, Mrs. Weasley said with narrowed eyes, ‘are too sarcastic for your own good.

Draco just nodded at that, and started eating again.

◊

Hermione saw that Malfoy was close to freaking out after the second shop they went into, so she took him to Gringott’s. She needed to change muggle money for galleons and he admitted to needing to sort things out with his parent’s deaths as well.

They were silent as they made their way down the streets, but both of them were acutely aware of everybody staring.

‘It’ll die down, eventually’, Hermione said, trying to be optimistic.

He wasn’t buying it. ‘I’ll most likely get used to it before that happens.’ He sighed. ‘Thank you, Granger. You’re being awfully civil about this, and I… I know I don’t deserve it.’

Hermione didn’t think she could take too many more shocks like this one.

‘Well’, she said diplomatically. ‘You probably don’t, no. But I’m certain you can prove yourself to be… better than what we all thought you were. I mean, you’ve already done that, but… it’s not an easy thing to stomach.’

He snorted. ‘That’s an understatement.’

‘And I know’, she went on, ‘that it’s not easy for you either. I can’t even imagine the pain you’re feeling.’

‘No.’, he whispered. ‘No, you can’t.’

‘If there’s anything I can do to help…’, she said, hesitance clear.

Malfoy shook his head, briefly glancing at her. ‘You’ve already done enough.’

‘Still. Please.’

She couldn’t say anything more, but he seemed to understand, because he looked into her eyes and nodded once. And then he held the door to the bank open for her.

The only respite in the day came in Gringott’s, when Malfoy stared at Hermione’s wallet and the money in it. Taking pity on him, she handed him a couple of different bills, trying her hardest not to laugh as he was inspecting them like they were some ancient artifact.

◊

The new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher worked for Fudge, the Ministry was interfering at Hogwarts, everybody thought Harry was lying and Malfoy was sitting all alone at one end of the Slytherin table.

The school year was off to a _brilliant_ start, and Hermione was already exhausted.

◊

Gryffindor shared a higher number of classes with Slytherin this year. Malfoy was late to the first Transfiguration class, and he came in with an eye swollen shut and with his nose bleeding.

‘Mr. Malfoy!’, McGonagall yelped, rushing to his side. ‘What happened?’

‘I fell’, came the deadpan response.

‘On a fist?’, Ron said, making Draco glare at him.

‘Mr. Malfoy’, McGonagall said again. She sighed after, and pointed her wand at him, quickly stopping the bleeding and making the bruising on his eye recede.

‘Thank you, Professor’, he said in a very subdued manner.

‘Tell me who did this!’, McGonagall demanded.

‘With all due respect’, he tilted his head, ‘and despite what everyone thinks, I am not a snitch.’

McGonagall bristled at that. ‘So you’re just going to let the person that did this to you get away unpunished?’

Malfoy smirked at that. ‘I never said they got away.’

McGonagall huffed and kept glaring at him, but he didn’t budge. ‘Very well’, she sighed. ‘Sit down, please.’

There were only two free chairs in the classroom, one next to Hermione and one next to a Slytherin boy she didn’t know the name of. Malfoy clearly hesitated, eyes roaming from one place to the other.

Hermione smiled at him, and pointedly took her bag off the spare chair and moved it to the floor.

Even McGonagall looked shocked when Draco sat down next to Hermionr, but she started the class, making everyone look away from them.

◊

Harry kept coming back from detention with scars on his hands.

Draco kept coming back from the Slytherin common room with bruises.

Umbridge started making rules out of thin air.

Hermione thought this year was going to be hell for Draco, but as it turned out, it was hell for everyone else as well.

And she knew it was even worse than she thought when at the end of a Divination class‚ Draco grabbed her elbow and asked to walk her to her next class.

He did this very publically. The Gryffindors stared, Harry and Ron narrowed their eyes, the Slytherins called both of them names and all but spat on Draco. He didn’t seem to care.

Today he had a split lip and a deep cut next to his eye. Hermione knew that he never went to see Madam Pomfrey and that he’d refuse her offer of a healing spell, because this was nothing compared to what he had to endure on other days.

‘Is everyone treating you like this?’, she asked, completely horrified.

‘Just Slytherins’, Draco shrugged, picking up her bag and making his way outside. ‘The other houses just ignore me, really.’

‘We have to do something’, Hermione breathed out. ‘This can’t go on, I’ve lost count of how many bruises I fixed.’

‘Look, it’s-‘

‘I mean it, Draco’, she said strongly, grabbing his shoulder. ‘What if they don’t stop next time? What if you get hurt, more than just a cut or a bruise?’

‘I know’, he sighed. ‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to move out of the Slytherin dormitories.’

Hermione’s eyes grew wide. ‘Is that even possible?’

‘I think so, once I get to Dumbledore and tell him everything. I tried talking to Snape, but…’, he shook his head. ‘He can’t help me, you see.’

Hermione sighed, because she understood. Snape couldn’t interfere in Draco’s life because Voldermort needed to believe he was on his side.

‘I know I should go straight to Dumbledore, but I can’t seem to freaking _find_ him’, Draco was very frustrated. ‘I thought I’d go to someone else, but… who? I have no idea who would listen to me, especially with that pink abomination wreaking havoc in the castle. ’

‘McGonagall’, Hermione said quickly. ‘Dumbledore listens to her and she’s… she’ll understand.’

Draco looked at her and bit on his lower lip, before looking away, but he bumped their shoulders together.

‘Come with me, please?’

It was whispered, Hermione barely heard it. But it was important. It wasn’t just Draco asking for help, it was Draco trusting Hermione.

She wordlessly wrapped her fingers into his robes and dragged him towards McGonagall’s office.

The teacher stared at Draco as he talked.

‘Mrs. Granger’, she said when he was done, ‘why are you here?’

‘Moral support, for one’, Hermione said before she could think it through. ‘Also, I’ve been the one tending to Draco’s wounds, since he’s as stubborn as we’ve always known him and he refuses to go to the infirmary. I thought that if you didn’t believe him, you might believe me.’

McGonagall sighed, deeply, rubbing her fingers over her eyebrows in a nervous tale Hermione has never seen from her.

‘I’ve tried to go to the Headmaster with this’, Draco said, ‘but he’s too busy. I’m sorry to burden you, Professor, but I didn’t refuse the Dark Lord to be killed in my sleep by my colleagues.’

‘This won’t help’, McGonagall shook her head. ‘I can move you out of there, Mr. Malfoy, that is no problem. But it won’t help you in your relationship with your house, it’ll only make things worse.’

For some reason, Draco looked to Hermione then. Not for long, just for a couple of seconds, but when he turned back to the teacher, he straightened his back.

‘I don’t care. My parents are dead, and they were the ones who taught me to care about my peers’ opinions. And if my peers force me to do protective charms over my bed every night, then I really don’t care about any of them. They don’t matter.’

‘Who does, then?’, McGonagall asked, but it was rhetorical.

Still, Draco answered it with a smirk. ‘You know, Professor, I’ve got an in with the problematic trio.’ He went as far as to wink at Hermione, making both her and McGonagall roll their eyes.

‘Well, Mr. Malfoy’, the older woman said, ‘it’s good to know you still have a sense of humor.’

‘Bout the only thing left, really’. He said it with a smirk still sternly etched on his features, but it was still horrible for Hermione to hear it.

‘I won’t be able to say the real reason why I’m moving you out of your dorm’, McGonagall said next. ‘It won’t pass Umbridge.’

Draco nodded. ‘Got any ideas?’

‘You have nightmares.’, McGonagall said, staring Draco down. ‘Night terrors, really. I’m not going to tell anyone what about, but people will assume it has something to do with how your parents died. And your roommates cannot afford to have so many sleepless nights.’

As far as Hermione knew, McGonagall had no idea about what really happened that night. But maybe Dumbledore told her something, because…

‘That’s not even a complete lie, Professor’, Draco said.

‘My duty has always been with the students of this school and I won’t let some stupid hag change that.’, McGonagall said strongly. ‘Go pack your bags, Mr. Malfoy. I’ll have the elves set up your room, next to the Head Boy and Girl’s ones.’

He nodded again, and turned around to leave, Hermione quick to follow.

‘Mr. Malfoy’, McGonagall stopped them. ‘Don’t forget to give Miss Granger her bag back.’

Hermione honestly forgot about it. Draco seemed like he did as well.

◊

Hermione felt like she owed Draco something, for the fact that he trusted her with something as important as that was.

So when the idea came to her, she talked to Draco about it first. Which was a difficult thing to do‚ because he seemed to be hiding. She saw him in the classes they shared, but he ran off before Hermione could approach him.

But she did corner him after Transfigurations, because they were still sitting together.

‘You’re walking me to my next class’, she told him strongly as McGonagall dismissed them.

‘You’re not the boss of me, Granger’, came the quick snarky response.

‘Of course not. But you’re still doing it because I have an idea and I need to brainstorm.’

Draco stared at her. ‘With me? You want to brainstorm with me?’

She threw him a look. ‘Professor?’, Hermione sweetly called to McGonagall. ‘Is it safe to say that Draco Malfoy is the second best student in our year?’

The teacher frowned at them, somewhat amused. ‘Very safe, yes. Do I need to remind you who the first ranking student is?’

‘Oh, that won’t be necessary’, Hermione said innocently before turning to look at Draco again.

Who just shook his head and grabbed her bag, heading for the door but making sure Hermione was following.

He thought it was a mad idea, of course. But he also thought it was needed. Not just for the students to be able to defend themselves, but for giving them something to fight with against Umbridge. She won’t know about it, Draco argued, but it’ll help us a lot.

He said ‘us’, and Hermione smiled.

◊

Draco was late to the meeting at Hog’s Head, but judging by the look in his eyes, Hermione thought that was deliberate.

He said nothing as he made his way to the front of the group‚ where he leaned against a windowsill and crossed his hands over his chest‚ looking‚ for all pretenses‚ incredibly bored. But he gave a small nod to Hermione, so she started talking.

It didn’t take long, for people to dismiss Harry. One of them tried to get him to talk about how Cedric died, and Harry exploded.

‘I’m not going to talk about Cedric, so if that’s why you’re here for, you might as well clear out now.’ He turned to Hermione, lowering his voice. ‘Come on, they’re all here because they think I’m some freak.’

‘Well you are’, Draco’s voice drawled out, ‘but that’s beside the point.’

Everyone turned to stare at him, Harry included. Draco clicked his tongue before turning to everyone gathered addressing them.

'I can't tell you about how Diggory died‚ but I can tell you about how my parents died.'‚ he spoke evenly‚ even though his eyes gave away his pain. 'I can tell you about how he slit my Father’s throat or about how he killed my Mother with his spare hands because it hurt her more. Hell, I can even tell you about how he tortured me.’

‘You’re lying’, someone from the back of the group said. ‘Just as Potter is, you’re lying. You-Know-Who isn’t back, we would know.’

Draco clicked his tongue again and, to everyone’s shock, he took off his winter coat. He was wearing a jumper underneath, so it was easy for him to show everyone his left forearm, where the mark was discernible because of the still angry-looking scars.

‘He killed my parents because I refused to become a Death Eater. Now I don’t know about you lot, but I reckon I could learn a defensive spell or two.’

He dressed back in a casual matter, completely ignoring the way everyone was staring at him.

‘Harry’, Luna said airily. ‘Is it true you can produce a Patronus Charm?’

‘Yes’, Hermione said when it was clear Harry wouldn’t. ‘I’ve seen it.’

Things just escalated from there, culminating with Harry saying that what he had done in the past has been mostly luck.

‘I didn’t know what I was doing half the time. I nearly always had help.’

Draco snorted. ‘Acceptance is the first step.'

He stopped snickering when he met Hermione’s angry glare, and Harry was able to move on, convincing everyone present to sign up for Dumbledore’s Army.

Draco Malfoy was the fourth name on the list, after Hermione, Ron and Harry.

◊

Hermione was beyond excited to do this, to break the rules for something _so important_. And she wasn’t the only one, Ron and Ginny, Fred and George, even Neville, they were all beyond excited, all of them wracking their brains to figure out where they could train.

Even Draco looked excited, and Hermione couldn’t help but smile his way.

◊

It was only a few days later when Neville stormed into the common room and all but dragged them out of there. Surprisingly enough, Draco was waiting for them outside, grinning smugly.

‘So we were walking to the library’, Neville started saying‚ leading them down corridors.

'And we were both thinking about where we could do this' Draco went on.

‘And I found it.’, Neville said.

' _I_ found it'‚ Draco narrowed his eyes.

'Okay, we found it’, Neville rolled his eyes.

‘What the bloody hell have you found?’, Ron finally asked, making both of the other boys grin.

As soon as Hermione saw Neville closing his eyes and concentrating on something, as he paced in front of a wall‚ she understood what they were talking about.

‘You found the Room of Requirement. It’s also known as the Come and Go Room.’

‘Uhm’, Harry said.

‘The Room of Requirement only appears when a person has real need of it. And it’s always equipped for the seeker’s needs.’

‘Brilliant’, Harry said. ‘It’s like Hogwarts wants us to fight back.’

‘You bet it does, mate!’, Draco said strongly, still grinning wildly. ‘You bet it does!'

◊

Hermione spent a lot of hours in the Library studying for her OWLS. During classes, most teachers were as boring as Umbridge wanted them to be.

Umbridge was the worse, thought. The most useless thing Hermione has ever done is her life was taking her class.

The rules kept on piling up on the wall, but during a certain group of students… the spirits were lifted.

And that was because Harry was a great teacher. He was patient and good at explaining things, kind when he needed to be, funny when everyone else needed it.

 _Expelliarmus,_ _stupefy, reducto_. Harry didn’t move on to the next spell until everyone else did it just as well as he did.

It was no shock that Neville had to work the most at it.

And it was no shock that Draco had to work very little at it.

What was shocking, though, was the way he refused to battle against Hermione.

After she managed to _stupefy_ Ron fairly quickly, Harry said that maybe Draco should go next, because the two of them were on more even grounds.

‘No’, Draco said quickly. ‘No way, nope, not doing it.’

‘What is it, Malfoy?’, Fred laughed.

‘Scared of lil’ ol’ Hermione?’, George continued.

‘Yes’, Draco drawled out. ‘And if you’re not, then you’re fools.’

‘Come on, Draco’, Hermione laughed. ‘I won’t hurt you too bad.’

‘I can’t stand the sight of you with a wand pointed at me.’, Draco said next, and for some reason, it hurt Hermione.

But she let it drop and stepped out of the training area, letting Harry go on with the lesson.

All was well.

◊

Until Umbridge figured out something was happening and she started going after them. Nerves were running higher, all of Slytherin was in the Inquisitor Squad, all but Draco of course. But when they were in the Room of Requirement‚ things were better.

And then Harry dreamed about Mr. Weasley being hurt, and he turned out to be right.

◊

Hermione spent the holidays with her parents, up to Christmas Eve. The next day, she went to 12 Grimmauld Place, hands weighted down by presents.

She found an odd atmosphere.

The Weasleys were all wearing their sweaters, and everyone was thrilled to have Mr. Weasley back, even if he was still hurt.

Harry and Sirius were keeping to themselves‚ locked behind doors and talking in hushed tones about things nobody ever found out. Hermione suspected it involved Snape and the occlumency lessons, but she couldn’t be sure.

And Draco was… well. He was wearing a Weasley sweater‚ for one. He had also turned the library into his headquarters, spending the day away in there, nose buried in books.

His hair was longer, Hermione couldn’t help but notice. And he put on a bit of weight, living with Mrs. Weasley would do that, but he didn’t look bad. He looked healthy, but there were still dark bags under his eyes.

She knew that the nightmares haven’t left him even after he moved out of the Slytherin dormitories. But seeing him now, Hermione had to admit that there was something soft about him.

Maybe it was the fact that he looked ridiculous in the ginger sweater with the D on it, or maybe it was the fact that he had jeans on, but no shoes. Or maybe it was the fact that he was surrounded by books.

Maybe it was a combination of all these things that made Draco Malfoy look not only soft, but also… inviting.

‘Are you just going to keep staring, Granger, or are you coming in?’, he didn’t even look up at her.

Hermione huffed and made her way fully into the room, making herself comfortable on an ottoman across from Draco. It took a few beats of silence, but he finally but down the book he was reading and turned to her, even smiling.

‘Merry Christmas, Granger. How may I help you?’

‘Merry Christmas, Draco.’, she responded in the same sarcastic tone he used, but it softened after. ‘I saw the necklace you gave Mrs. Weasley. It really is beautiful.'

He shrugged‚ unbothered. 'Just a trinket‚ it has no real value.’

‘And the Quidditch book you gave Ginny?’

‘She’s way too into it to be healthy, really.’, he pulled a face.

‘And the prank supplies for Fred and George?'

'Very talented‚ they are'.

‘And the shirts for Ron?’

‘His fashion sense is inexistent, I was doing the world of favor.’

‘And the whiskey for Sirius? And the cd player for Mr. Weasley? And the spell book for Harry?'

Her indignation must have went up a notch, because Draco stopped acting like it wasn’t important, the fact that he gave everyone thought-out Christmas gifts. Now he looked cocky.

'Granger’, he teased. ‘Is this you trying to figure out if I got you something?’

‘No’, she shook her head. ‘This is just me acknowledging the fact that you’re a decent human being and that I like it.’

That shocked Draco into silence. His jaw even dropped, in sync with streaks of red appearing on his cheeks.

Hermione smiled as she pulled out a box from her pocket, handing it to him.

‘I don’t care if you got me anything, but I saw this and it made me think of you.’

Draco didn’t say anything, and his eyes were wide, but he did take the box from Hermione and opened it.

There was a compass inside it. It wasn’t anything fancy, it really wasn’t that expensive. But it still worked and it was a couple of decades old. It was a dark charcoal dray and the lid had a dragon design on it.

It was a bit cheesy, but it was a beautiful piece, Hermione thought.

‘Why did you think of me?’, Draco was still looking at the compass.

‘Because I’d really hate it, if you’d lost your way.’

He looked up at that, something different in his eyes.

‘Damn it, Granger’, he whispered. ‘Do you always have to one up me?’

Hermione frowned. ‘I didn’t-‘, she stopped when Draco took out a smaller box from his pocket. He all but threw it at her, with a scowl on his face.

Bewildered, Hermione opened the box. There was a small pendant inside, shaped as an open book. It wasn’t particularly special, but it was cute and it was silver. And it really was something Hermione would wear.    

When she looked up, Draco was already watching her. He looked anxious, for some reason.

‘I don’t think I one upped you’, Hermione said. ‘Cause this is the cutes thing I’ve seen in a while.’

Draco huffed, but the corners of his mouth were going up.

‘The cutest’, she said again, high pitching her voice.

He was definitely trying not to laugh. She didn’t say anything else, just smiled innocently at him.

It took a few seconds, but he did laugh. Out loud and scrunching up his nose, leaning his head back and showcasing his perfect teeth.

Draco Malfoy really was a beautiful thing, Hermione knew this. But now, she was starting to see that he was a beautiful human as well.  

◊

Going back to school, Hermione shared a train compartment with Luna, Neville and Draco. The boys spent the entire ride talking about things, varying from quidditch to obscure herbs.

Hermione and Luna spent the ride just watching them, because they were having a perfectly civil conversation, Neville even got excited over some points, and Draco had never once made fun of him.

It was good‚ that Neville and Draco started getting along. Because when The Prophet ran the article about Bellatrix Lestrange escaping from Azkaban, Draco was the only one who noticed the anger on Neville’s face.

He didn’t hesitate in grabbing a hold of him and dragging him out of the Great Hall. Hermione didn’t know what was happening, but one look from Draco stopped her from following them out.

They met just an hour later in the Room of Requirement, and Hermione couldn’t help but notice that both Neville and Draco were very angry during training. Harry stayed behind with Neville as Hermione followed Draco out.

She followed him until he stopped in a random corridor, but one that was deserted. Draco leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

‘Bellatrix Lestrange is Mother’s sister. She’s my aunt, even if I never really met her. Neither did Neville, but… she’s the one who tortured his parents. She’s the reason why they’re …’

He didn’t finish the sentence, cursing and hitting his head against the wall once. Hermione couldn’t do much, but she put a comforting hand on Draco’s shoulder and let it there until he calmed himself down.

The next day, Harry started teaching _Expecto Patronum_ to the DA. Everybody was in awe when he showed his stag, but as they all started working, as they all thought of happy memories, as patronus animals bounced around the walls, spirits were high in Dumbledore’s Army.

But Hermione still noticed Draco sitting alone in a corner. He wasn’t trying to do the spell, he just sat against a wall and looked down to where he was gripping his wand with tight knuckles.

Hermione and Harry both started to go to him, but he relented to let her deal with it.

Draco looked up when she made his way to his side, but he didn’t say anything, and Hermione couldn’t really read the look on his face.

‘What are you having trouble with?’, is what she decided on asking.

‘Finding a god damn good memory.’

She flinched, she couldn’t help it. But she also pushed all the dark thoughts away, trying her best to think of something that would help Draco.

‘Start by thinking of something you love.’, she said gently.

He huffed. ‘There aren’t that many _things_ left for me to love.’

‘You love flying’, Hermione said on a whim. He seemed to consider this, so she went on.

‘Think about how good it feels to be on a broom. The wind in your hair and the landscape rushing under you, an undistinguishable mess. Or the cold rain that falls on your heated neck after practice.’

Draco looked away from her, lifting up his wand.

‘The smell of the world around you’, Hermione went on, whispering gently. ‘The rush of being so high up, of flying so fast, faster than any bird around you. You love it. You do, you love flying.’

He said the incantation and he managed a shield, but not a full patronus. Draco didn’t seem disappointed by this fact, but Hermione knew he could do better.

‘Try it again’, she said. ‘But this time, think about the first time you got on a broom. How was it?’

Draco still didn’t look at her, but he smiled, a bit. ‘I was 6. Mother covered the floor of the dining room in pillows so that I wouldn’t get hurt when I fell. And Father, he… he was patient with me. And we flew together until I knew how to steer.’

‘And when he let you fly alone?’, Hermione insisted.

‘I touched the ceiling’, Draco breathed out. ‘It was amazing.’

Hermione didn’t say anything in fear of breaking the moment, but she wrapped her fingers around Draco’s wrist and lifted it up.

Draco looked to her as he said the incantation, and it took a few moments for him to realize that he managed to make a full bodied patronus. The glee on Draco’s face was just as beautiful as the wolf of his patronus.

In a fit of childishness, Hermione conjured her own patronus, and the otter started chasing the wolf around the ceiling of the room.

Just as they started to play together, something shook the entire Room of Requirement, and Umbridge got in.

And then Dumbledore was on the run and Umbridge was Headmistress and the entire school was in _pain_.

There were first years crying in the hallways and there was nothing that could help with the blood pouring out of their hands or the pain that didn’t go away in the morning. The paintings were gone, nobody was talking in the hallways, the common room was always empty.

Hogwarts was awful. Hermione hated it and that hurt her more than a skin cutting quill ever will.

One night, Draco invited her to his room. She would have said no, two students of opposite sex were prohibited to be alone in the same room, but she just wanted something normal for a little while.

‘When did my normal became sneaking into Draco Malfoy’s private dormitory?’

Maybe it wasn’t a good idea, saying that out loud the second he opened the door. Draco frowned at her and Hermione promptly started crying.

To his credit, all Draco did was pull her inside of the tiny room and close the door behind her, before gently guiding her to the bed, sitting beside her and letting her cry on his shoulder.

She cried for a long while, and he never said a word.

‘I’m sorry’, Hermione said when she managed to calm herself.

He smiled at her. ‘It’s why I called you, really. I had a feeling you were going to break down.’

She stared at him. ‘How? _I_ didn’t know I was going to break down.’

‘Mother thought me that every strong lady needs a good cry sometimes. Today was harder than usual on you, I could see it.’

He was right, now that she thought about it.

‘Thank you’, Hermione breathed out.

‘No problem.’, he shook his head. ‘It’s the least I could do.’

Hermione left Draco’s room that night acknowledging the possibility that she was falling for him.

◊

Fred and George Weasley left Hogwarts with a _bang_ and it probably was the best thing Hermione has ever experienced at school.

And it was tainted by Harry seeing Voldermort torturing Sirius.

◊

It would have been too easy for them to actually manage to floo out of Umbridge’s office. They got caught, but at least Harry got to tell Snape about what was happening to Sirius.

But when Umbridge said she was going to use the _cruciatus_ curse on Harry, Hermione freaked out. She couldn’t help but notice the hurt look in the other’s eyes when she talked about Dumbledore’s secret weapon, but she decided she was going to deal with that after they dealt with Umbridge.

And they did deal with her, with the help of Centaurs and of Gwarp, the giant.

◊

Hermione’s heart might have melted a bit when Ginny, Luna, Neville and Draco all wanted to join Harry to the Ministry. It really was heartwarming, what Dumbledore’s Army meant for them, what Harry meant for them.

Her heart would have exploded completely, if it weren’t for the fact that they were, in fact, heading into a very dangerous situation, in the war against Voldermort.

◊

Draco and Ron both knew their way around, so they found the room of prophecies pretty quickly. And Neville found Harry's prophecy.

And then Death Eaters found them.

Bellatrix Lestrange was leading the convoy, and she taunted Harry. ‘You really should learn to tell the difference between dreams and reality’.

It meant Sirius wasn’t hurt, but-

Then the witch was taunting Neville, casually asking about Mum and Dad. Draco had to keep him back, and that brought Bellatrix’s attention onto him.

‘Oh, nephew, nephew, nephew. You look so much like her.’

Draco said nothing, but Hermione could feel him vibrating in anger. She didn’t have time to think of it, because they were surrounded by Death Eaters and they wanted the prophecy.

Bellatrix offered things‚ promised Harry she'd tell him the truth, once and for all.

All Harry did was sass her. And then they were running and fighting. When Ginny took the room down with her incredibly powerful _reducto_ , Draco was the first one to move.

He grabbed Hermione’s hand and started running, urging everyone to follow him out the door. They made it out, but it didn’t count for much, because the Death Eaters followed.

They probably would have all ended up dead if the Order hadn’t arrived when they did.

When Sirius punched Bellatrix in the face, Draco laughed out loud and elbowed the Death Eater that was detaining him. And then Tonks was there, pushing all of them to hide behind a rock, but Hermione still saw it.

She saw Harry fighting side by side Sirius, against the Death Eater that had a hold on Draco. She saw Sirius proudly say ‘That’s my James!’.

And she heard Bellatrix say the words. And she saw Sirius fall, lifeless, to the ground.

For a second, Hermione thought to horrible scream she was hearing came from Harry. But then she realized it was coming from her side, from Draco.

He moved before anybody could stop him, running after Bellatrix. Harry was hot on his heels.

Hermione still heard her taunt, her melodious song of _I killed Sirius Black, I killed Sirius Black_. And then she heard Draco screaming a _crucio_ , followed by Harry saying the same thing.

She wanted to run after them, but Tonks and Remus kept them back. They promised that Dumbledore was already there, and it took a while for Hermione and the rest to dodge them.

They made it into the main hall just as Harry fought Voldermort out of his head. And then he was _there_ , and Draco whimpered next to Hermione.

And then the Minister himself was there, and Voldermort was gone and Hermione allowed herself ten minutes to hide her face behind her hands and cry for Sirius.

◊

On the way to the train station‚ there was a group of Slytherins behind them that started calling Draco a blood traitor.

Like a well oiled machine, just like they did in the Department of Mysteries, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville all turned around at the same time, forming a protective half circle around Draco.

'Say that again'‚ Neville taunted.

'Or what‚ Longbottom?'‚ one of the Slytherins laughed. ‘You’ll accidentally set yourself on fire while trying to hex me?’

‘Say that again’, Harry said evenly, and it was all that was needed to make the Slytherins falter.

‘You know’, Pansy Parkinson stared at Draco, ‘I don’t care that much about your… loyalties. But you turned your back on _our house_.’

‘Yeah’, Draco said stiffly. ‘I turned my back to the people in my dormitory that were trying to _crucio_ me every night.’

It was clear that Pansy knew nothing of what has been happening to Draco before he moved out.

‘And after all that happened with Voldermort’, Draco said next, ‘you still have energy to waste on me.’

He turned around and left without another word, and the DA was quick to follow.

◊

Summer was as boring as it always was. Hermione loved spending time with her parents‚ really she did‚ but she missed her friends.

Harry let Draco stay at 12 Grimmauld Place. He never wrote, but Harry did, once or twice‚ telling Hermione that Draco was filling his days with exploring the house and tidying up. It was hard for her to imagine Draco doing that, but she had learned, in the past year, how to deal with Draco Malfoy surprising her.

And then she stumbled upon him in a mall. A normal, muggle mall.

Draco was in Macy's‚ browsing the socks rack. He was equally shocked to see her‚ considering he yelped a high pitched ‘Granger!’ and took a step back, stumbling into the sock rack.

Of course, his scream alerted Hermione's mother.

‘Is everything alright, dear?’, she eyed Draco suspiciously.

Hermione smiled at her. 'Mom‚ this is Draco. From school.'

'Oh'‚ her mother breathed out‚ eyes growing a bit wide. 'It's a pleasure to meet you‚ Draco‚ Hermione has told me a lot about you.'

Hermione blushed slightly‚ when Draco threw her a look. But then he turned to her mother‚ smiling politely.

'Nice to meet you‚ Mrs. Granger. Good day?'

Suddenly‚ the older woman looked amused, throwing Hermione a look. 'Yes‚ it has been. But I reckon it's coming to an end. We've got everything we needed‚ isn't that right‚ Hermione?'

Again‚ she threw her a look. Before Hermione got to answer‚ her mother was pushing bills into her hand and letting her know she won't wait up for her at dinner. She winked before she left‚ but she winked at Draco, not at Hermione.

She spent a few seconds just looking at Draco. He looked good, a lot better than the last time she saw him. His hair was shorter, carefully styled in a very modern way. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a dark blue shirt, with the sleeves carefully bent.

The dark mark scar stood out against his pale skin, but it was obvious that Draco didn’t care.

The first two buttons of his shirt weren’t buttoned up. His throat was pale and Hermione could see tiny specs of blonde hair, stubble peeking through.

He looked… well. Very well. Attractive, the word came easily for Hermione. He has always been a good looking boy, but now she couldn’t help but think of him as an attractive young man.

‘Gosh that was embarrassing’, Hermione said once she dispersed the thoughts from her head. Draco snickered, but didn’t say anything.

'Right, well’, Hermione straightened up. ‘Do you still have shopping to do, or do you want to… uhm. Hang out?’

Draco raised his eyebrows. ‘What do you have in mind, Granger?'

‘There’s a nice little café a couple of blocks away’, Hermione improvised. ‘Really good sandwiches and extra sweet iced tea. We could catch up?’

It took a bit, but Draco nodded his acceptance‚ following her out of the store and down the streets.

He didn’t seem awkward when they stepped into the café, making Hermione think he has been spending time in the muggle world over the past months.

‘So’, she smiled once they were seated and waiting on their order. ‘How was your summer?’

‘Calm'‚ he drawled out. 'Borderline boring‚ really.'

'Harry told me you went though the things at the house.’

And suddenly, Draco was excited. He started talking about all the things he found, the pictures and the artifacts‚ both dark and not.

'Aren't you lonely?'‚ she found herself asking‚ making Draco freeze for a moment, before he smiled at her.

'I'm fairly used to it and really, I think I needed a break.’

‘Right, yes, of course’, Hermione shook her head.

‘Tell me about your summer’, Draco said next.

‘Boring’, Hermione smiled. ‘Utterly boring. And I missed you guys.’

He chuckled at that. ‘Such a social butterfly’, he teased. ‘Don’t you have any muggle friends?’

The look Hermione threw him made Draco flinch.

‘Sorry, that was rude of me.’

‘It’s okay’, she giggled before sobering up. ‘But you’re right. I mean, I can’t… even if I did make muggle friends, I couldn’t tell them the truth. I’d be lying to them, every day, and you can’t have a friendship like that. It wouldn’t be real.'

'You’re right, I guess.’, Draco said gently.

‘The friends I do have’, she went on, smiling. ‘Harry and Ron, Ginny, even Luna and Neville… You. That’s enough for me. That’s enough for a lifetime.’

‘You know’, Draco said around a frown. ‘I think I’m just starting to get that.’

Hermione smiled wildly, and asked Draco if he wanted an icecream. He did, and so they made their way two streets over to Hermione’s favorite icecream shop, where Draco ordered an alarming amount of mint chocolate chip.

He ate it all, it was disgusting and very reminiscent on Ron. Hermione laughed. 

◊

A week before the start of term, the attacks started. Not just on the wizarding world, Death Eaters attacking shops in Diagon Alley and kidnapping wizards, but on the muggle world as well.

Hermione didn’t need to explain it to her parents. Her father was painfully oblivious, but her mother wasn’t. She tried to convince Hermione to stay home, but accepted her decision to not do that.

She said goodbye to her parents and went to 12 Grimmauld Place, intent on writing Harry, asking him to come join them. She didn’t get to do that, because Mrs. Weasley showed up and took them both to the Burrow. Thankfully, Harry popped up a couple of days later.

They spent a few easy days around the Burrow, eating their weight in Mrs. Weasley’s food, joking around with all of the redhead siblings, trying their best to ignore that everyone seemed to think that Hogwarts wasn’t such a safe place anymore.

◊

The start of the year shopping didn’t go so well.

The Weasley&Weasley shop was brilliant, but Olivander’s ruined shop was depressing. And then Draco noticed Crabbe and his father, heading into Nocturn Alley.

He stated following them without a word, and they all followed him, of course.

On the train ride to Hogwarts, that’s all Harry spoke about.

‘No idea what he’s doing’, Draco answered the unspoken question. ‘No idea what that cabinet is either.’

‘Didn’t it look like an initiation?’, Harry insisted, looking straight at Draco.

‘I don’t know what an initiation looks like’, he sighed. ‘But Crabbe isn’t… he’s an idiot. He’s not smart. His father isn't smart either. If _he_ really made Crabbe a Death Eater… I can’t see it, really.’

‘It’s ludicrous'‚ Hermione said. ‘Voldermort going around making teenagers into Death Eaters.’

Of course, she changed her mind when Harry turned up to the feast bleeding, saying Crabbe was to blame.

◊

Draco turned up at breakfast the next day grinning wildly. He still sat alone at the table‚ and his house mates were still giving him dark‚ hateful looks‚ but Draco was grinning.

And he waited for Hermione outside of the hall, walking together to Potions.

'You're oddly chipper this morning’, she pointed out with a raise of her eyebrow.

He grinned even wider. ‘Well, Granger, the most peculiar thing happened last night. You see, I don’t know if you noticed, but there weren’t that many first years sorted into Slytherin this year.’

‘Right’, she nodded, frowning. ‘And?’

‘And as it came to happen, I was _randomly_ assigned to a new dormitory after last year’s business. It’s empty.’

Hermione’s eyes grew wide. ‘You have an entire dormitory for your own?’

‘Yup’, he grinned, before lowering his voice. ‘I should send McGonagall some flowers.’

‘Yes, yes, but… you’re still in the common room.’

Draco shrugged. ‘Nobody’s forcing me to spend my time there. And really, if I have a whole room all too myself, why should I?’

They made their way into the Potions classroom, and while the Gryffindors didn’t look at Draco like he was the devil anymore, Hermione and him both got heated look from all the Slytherins, one in particular.

‘You’re sitting next to me.’, Hermione whispered.

‘You’re not the boss of me’, came Draco’s quick reply, but he did follow her.

Thankfully, Harry and Ron joined them a while later.

Hermione didn’t have time to think about it too much, because there was a cauldron of _Amortentia_ on the desk.

‘For example, I smell… the smell of old books and petrichor and lemon -‘

She stopped. What she wanted to say was ‘lemon scented hair gel’, but she didn’t want to say that out loud. Because there was only one person who she knew used the product and he was currently watching her with a curiously raised blonde eyebrow.

Well, Hermione sighed to herself. It turned out the summer hadn’t made her crush on Draco go away.

◊

That Potions class was a mess.

Hermione has never been exceptionally good at Potions‚ but she was good, she always managed to make the potions needed. But that damn _Living Dead_ potion…

It all but killed her. Well, she almost died trying to make it. She was unsuccessful.

As Slughorn gave Harry the _Felix Felicis_ potion‚ Hermione was startled to feel Draco leaning into her‚ so that he could whisper in her ear.

'This is the best your hair has ever looked.’

Hermione huffed and elbowed him in the stomach, earning a snicker.

◊

'So', Harry said later that evening in the common room. ‘I met with Dumbledore and I have to tell you two things he said to me. One.’

He turned and stared at Hermione. ‘He asked me if you and I were seeing each other.’

She blushed, briefly, but mostly she just scrunched up her nose.

'Gee‚ Hermione’, Harry drawled out, clearly annoyed. ‘Thanks for that, really.’

‘Oh, get off it'‚ she rolled her eyes. 'I know you'll be a great boyfriend some day, but certainly not to me.’

‘Fair enough’, Harry chuckled. ‘I told Dumbledore you’re almost dating Malfoy anyway.'

Hermione almost fell off her chair. 'You did not!’

Harry snickered. 'You’re right‚ I didn’t. But your face just now was priceless.'

She huffed. 'What about the second thing Dumbledore told you?’

Hermione knew Voldermort was powerful. But knowing he has always been this way, even as a child‚ it made Hermione shiver.

◊

After Katie Bell was attacked at Hogsmeade, they were all summoned into McGonagall’s office.

‘Why is it when something happens it is always you three?’, the teacher sighed.

‘Honestly, Professor’, Draco said cheerily‚ 'I’ve been asking myself the same question for six years.’

Harry tried to convince McGonagall that it was Crabbe that cursed Katie. Of course, he was unsuccessful.

‘Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger’, McGonagall said before they left. ‘I wish to speak with the two of you, please. Privately’, she threw a look to Ron and Harry, who didn’t leave until Hermione nodded at them.

‘I know it’s not any of my business’, McGonagall started saying gently, ‘but I couldn’t help but notice that… well, you seem to have become friends.’

Hermione looked to Draco, both of them a little wide eyed.

‘Uhm, yes.’, he said. ‘Not just with Granger, I mean-‘

‘Right’, Hermione nodded. ‘Dumbledore’s Army. You see, everyone who was a part of it, we all got close during last year.’

McGonagall nodded. ‘I see. So that is the reason why the rest of the school seems to perfectly accept the fact that Mr. Malfoy is fighting against You-Know-Who, while everyone in the Slytherin house still considers you a traitor?’

Draco sighed deeply. ‘And here I was hoping you were gonna ask if we’re dating.’

‘Well are you?’, McGonagall blinked.

‘No’, Hermione said strongly.

‘No’, Draco agreed. ‘And to answer your question… Every Slytherin hates me. But this year, as opposed to last, they leave me alone.’

‘They don’t’, Hermione glared at nothing in particular. ‘They call you names and bully you verbally, but at least they’re not physically violent anymore.’

‘Right’, Draco sighed. ‘Thank you, though, Professor. Having the room for myself has helped immensely.’

‘I think that was Professor Snape’s doing, actually.’, McGonagall said.

‘I’ll thank him, then’, Draco said after a beat.

The teacher didn’t say anything more, just moved her eyes from Draco to Hermione.

‘May we be excused?’, Draco asked.

‘One more thing.’, McGonagall looked to Hermione. ‘Is Potter going mental? Or does he actually have reasons to suspect Mr. Crabbe?’

Hermione pursed her lips. ‘He’s up to something and his father is a known Death Eater. We don’t have any proof, though.’

McGonagall huffed. ‘Very well. Just make sure, please, that Potter doesn’t do anything stupid.’

Draco snorted at that. Hermione elbowed him in the stomach as she nodded to McGonagall.

When they left her office, Draco put a hand on Hermione’s back and guided her to a seemingly random corridor, where he sat down on a bench that was placed in front of a pair of large windows.

Hermione raised an eyebrow.

‘I don’t want to go to the dungeons just yet’, Draco said. ‘Please allow me a few minutes of your time?’

She snorted, but sat down next to him on the bench, getting comfortable by bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

‘What do you think he’s doing?’, Hermione asked.

Draco didn’t have to ask who she was referring to.

‘Whatever it is, it wasn’t his idea. Crabbe really doesn’t ever show initiative. So whatever it is, it came from his father. Which means…’

‘It came from Voldermort’, Hermione sighed.

Draco nodded and they were silent for a while, until he gently knocked their shoulders together.

‘I have a question.’, he said. ‘But it’s personal and I don’t know if… if I’m allowed.’

Hermione just blinked at him. ‘You’re always allowed to ask. Whether I’m going to answer or not, that depends.’

‘Fair enough’, Draco said around a smile. ‘How come you and Weasley aren’t seeing each other? I’ve been meaning to ask since the _Amortentia_.’

Truth be told, Hermione’s heart stopped beating for a while there, but she was never going to let Draco Malfoy fluster her.

So she frowned and played dumb. 'I see Ginny all the time.’

Draco faltered. ‘I meant Ron’.

‘I see him all the time as well.’

He stared at her, blinking slowly for a couple of times. ‘You’re mocking me.’

That made Hermione finally smile. ‘A little bit. It’s not that you asked the wrong question, it was the right question, but just a couple of years too late.’

Draco raised his eyebrows. ‘Oh?’

She nodded. ‘We did have a thing for each other. I think. I mean, I had a crush on him and I think he felt the same about me and it all escalated at the end of 4th year.’

‘When you went to the Yule Ball with Krum?’, he was clearly confused.

‘Ron was a bit… stupid. Before the ball and during it, and it hurt me a lot, at the moment. It doesn’t matter now’, she shrugged, ‘but then it made me… I couldn’t get past that. And he realized he didn’t really want me to.’

‘Oh’, Draco said, nodding slowly. ‘Okay, I get that. Thank you for answering.’

Hermione smiled. ‘Is it my turn to ask a personal question?’

‘Sure’, he chuckled.

‘On the day with the _Amortentia_ … Why did Pansy Parkinson look at me like she wanted to skin me alive?’

Draco rolled his eyes. ‘It’s complicated.’

‘You don’t have to tell me.’, Hermione offered.

‘No, it’s fine.’, he shook his head. ‘I’ve known Pansy for a long time, a couple of years before we came to Hogwarts. She was one of my best friends growing up, and that didn’t change when our parents decided we were going to marry each other.’

Hermione’s shock was visible, because Draco laughed as he nodded.

‘Yes, it’s quite a common practice in pure-blood Slytherin houses. Anyway. We acted like we were alright with it, pretended at home and at school. She talked to me at the start of last year, thinking I was still going to go through with it.’

‘And you told her you wouldn’t.’, Hermione concluded.

‘Not only that’, Draco looked to her again. ‘I told her that while I enjoyed her friendship, I could never fall in love or lust with her.’

Hermione flinched. ‘That’s horrible.’

‘It’s the truth’, Draco said gently. ‘And she needed to hear it. She has always acted like the world was her garden'‚ he flinched then‚ 'which I know is something hilarious to hear coming from me‚ but I got my wakeup call. And she needed one as well.’

‘Did it work?’

Draco snorted. ‘Not really.’

‘What about now?’

He shrugged. ‘Still not talking to me. But, come on… we would have been miserable if we would have gotten married. I really never saw her that way, kissing her was a _chore_.’

‘So she’s jealous’, Hermione said after a few seconds. ‘Of me.’

Draco grinned at her. ‘Don’t let it get to your head, Granger.’

‘Of course not’, Hermione huffed. ‘It’s ridiculous.’

He nodded at that, but then he chuckled. ‘It’s kind of hilarious to watch, though.’

Hermione laughed, agreeing wholeheartedly. But she sobered up quickly and in a spark of courage, she let her upper body fall against Draco’s. He was startled by it, but his instincts kicked in, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders to steady her. So her head landed on his chest, and Hermione didn’t move it away.

It took a few seconds, but Draco sighed and pushed his cheek to her hair.

'What just happened?'‚ he whispered.

'Can I ask a stupid question?', Hermione whispered back.

She felt him nod.

'Are you happy?’

It was a very stupid question. Because his parents were dead, Voldermort had vowed to kill him and took over his home, and all of the friends he had growing up were now against him. They were in the middle of a war, and Draco spent the summer alone, in a stranger’s house with reminiscences of family he didn’t know.

‘No’, Draco said after a long while. ‘But at least I’ve got you. You lot.’

Hermione stayed in the weird half-hug with Draco until her legs got cramped, and even then, she was reluctant to move.

◊

Slug Club was the most ridiculous thing Hermione has ever been part of.

Draco was having a good laugh of it. Ron was upset about it.

And apparently, Harry was having no success at getting through to Slughorn.

◊

When Snape stepped into the classroom and announced they were going to duel, he glared at Harry. ‘Since it’s something some of you had… dabbled in, I think you should at least know how to do it properly.’

Then, he looked to the bench Hermione and Draco were sharing.

‘Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy’, he smirked slightly, ‘you’re opening the proceedings.’

Draco sighed and whispered so that Hermione was the only one to properly hear.

‘I really can’t stand seeing you at the other end of my wand.’

She froze, unable to turn to look at him. ‘That’s not what you said the last time.’

Hermione still remembered when Harry told them to duel in the DA. He said ‘I can’t stand the sight of you with a wand pointed at me.’, which was incredibly different from what he said now.

She still wasn’t looking at him, but she heard the smirk nonetheless.

‘This is what I meant, though.’

‘Enough chatter’, Snape waved his wand and all the tables disappeared. Soon, all the students were pushed to the side of the room and Hermione and Draco were left in the center, facing each other.

‘Don’t try spells too complicated’, Snape told them gruffly. ‘We don’t have time to fix your mistakes. And keep it clean.’

That is what they did. Draco was pretty ruthless in his attacks, but Hermione didn’t back down. She shielded herself from his every attack, even managing to attack him in between.

It was a hard duel because, as Harry predicted, she and Draco were pretty evenly matched. If one of them got the upper hand, the other one was quick to get back into it.

'This is not a good teaching exercise!’, Draco roared after 5 minutes or so, as he expertly blocked Hermione’s _expelliarmus._ ’Neither of us is ever going to win.’

He casted an _ebublio_ jinx, which Hermione blocked.

‘Let’s fight remotely, then.’, she all but grinned.

That made Draco stop, even as he kept his wand raised. She stopped as well, smiling at how he was frowning. But soon, his expression cleared, somewhat.

‘Is that even possible?’

‘Let’s see’, Hermione said, quickly waving her wand and summoning her patronus.

Draco was quick to follow, conjuring a full bodied patronus on the first try.

Immediately, the two animals faced each other. Draco’s wolf snarled‚ as Hermione’s otter bounced once before breaking into a run.

The students who weren’t in the DA gasped at first, before they quickly started cheering as they watched the two patronuses chasing each other across the ceiling.

'Enough!'‚ Snape roared‚ waving his wand and making both of the animals disappear. He then glared at Hermione and Draco.

‘It appears that you two are evenly matched’, he gritted out. ‘I’m not sure if that is an insult to Mr. Malfoy or a compliment to Miss Granger.’

‘Neither, Professor’, Draco happily quipped. ‘I think it’s a compliment to me, that I’ve managed to match the greatest witch of our generation, at least in this one thing.’

‘Mr. Malfoy’, Snape said after a beat. ‘Detention with me tonight for having the callousness to talk back to a professor. Potter, Parkinson, you’re next.’

Draco didn’t seem too bothered by his detention, and he was quick to settle back against the wall by Hermione’s side. They were both silent as they watched Harry humiliate Pansy in 15 short seconds. Much to Snape’s desperation.

◊

Hermione started spending more time with Draco when Ron got together with Lavender. It didn’t hurt her, not really, but the sight of them making out 24/7 did make her feel slightly ill.

So to Draco she went. They studied together in the Library, sometimes they’d find an empty corridor and just talk for awhile, about a various number of things. Sometimes Harry was there.

So when the time of Slughorn’s Christmas party came, there was only one person Hermione could think of inviting. She was, however, a bit anxious of how her question will be perceived.

'Hey, Draco. What do you think about you not being part of Slug Club?’

‘I don’t care’, he snorted. ‘Plus, I don’t really belong there, the Malfoy name isn’t what it used to be.’

‘That’s a bunch of crap’, Hermione argued. ‘My last name means a lot less than yours does, and I’m still there, because of my grades. Considering you come very close to them, you should be there as well.’

‘Right’, he frowned. ‘What’s this about, Granger?’

She took a deep breath and forced herself to look him in the eye. ‘Would you like to annoy Slughorn by coming with me to his Christmas party?’

He stared at her, for a couple of seconds. ‘Like a date?’, he finally asked in an even tone.

‘I need a date, yes.’, Hermione countered in the same manner, before smirking. ‘And I’m sure your sarcasm will make the whole thing much more bearable.’

Draco hummed at that. ‘Not a date, then. Who’s Potter taking?’

‘A good friend of his’, Hermione smiled. ‘Someone cool, apparently.’

‘You have no idea’, Draco sniggered.

‘Not one’, she admitted.

‘I guess we’ll see’, he said softly, still smiling.

‘We’ll see’, Hermione agreed.

◊

Draco picked her up outside of her common room, and he smiled brightly when he saw her.

‘You look brilliant’, he said after he kissed the back of her hand.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in a suit’, she countered, because it was true.

Since the start of the school year, Draco has never worn a suit to class. He still wore crisp dress shirts, but they were paired with jeans and comfy sweaters.

He shrugged. ‘Can’t have you outshining me, can I? Although’, he quickly ran a finger over the beaded necklace she was wearing, ‘you do give me a good run for my money.’

Still, it was not as sparkly as Luna’s dress. Draco didn’t laugh at her, though. He just smiled fondly and told her she looked very pretty.

When Crabbe got caught sneaking into the party, Hermione shared a long look with Harry and Draco. Harry followed Crabbe out, of course, and Hermione made a move to join him, but Draco stopped her by grabbing her wrist.

‘One can be stealthy, two’s a crowd.’

She relented.

◊

The boys went to the Burrow for Christmas. Somehow, Draco accepted the offer to go there from the start.

Hermione was glad to know that neither Draco nor Harry were going to spend their Christmas alone.

Three days in, she received a letter from Draco, a single line written in haste.

_TONKS IS MY COUSIN ? ? ? !_

Hermione laughed for a long while, imagining how Draco learned the information.

Three days later she got a letter from Harry explaining the Death Eaters’ attack and how they burned the Burrow down, and she wasn’t laughing anymore.

◊

When they got back at school, Dumbledore gave Harry yet another task regarding Slughorn. He was trying his best, but it was not going well.

And not only was there another attempt at Dumbledore’s life, but Ron got in the way and he would have died if it hadn’t been for Harry.

On top of it all, Crabbe was doing something in The Room of Requirement, something connected to the vanishing cabinet from Borgin&Burke, and nobody had any idea what.

Pansy Parkinson almost set fire to Hermione’s robes in Charms class, but thankfully, Draco was there and knew the counter charm.

Ron broke up with Lavender and things got back to normal, at least on that front.

And then Katie came back to school‚ and while Harry was asking her about who cursed her, even as she said she didn’t remember, she was staring at Crabbe.

Harry found him crying in the bathroom‚ but Draco had the state of mind to get Snape before barging in, so Crabbe didn’t die, even though he was badly hurt.

Thus, it was a lot easier for them to convince Harry to get rid of the Half-Blood Prince’s book.

That day at lunch, Draco came to the Gryffindor table with a goblet in a hand and a sandwitch in another. He wasn’t allowed to sit down, of course‚ so he settled for standing next to Hermione.

They made small talk for a while, ignoring how most of the people in the Great Hall were staring at them. But it was clear that Draco was impatient.

‘No luck on your… project‚ then, Potter?’, he asked somewhat pointedly, making Harry freeze with his fork halfway to his mouth.

‘Luck'‚ Harry breathed out. 'That’s it. All I need is a bit of luck.’

‘Draco’, Hermione almost gasped. ‘That’s brilliant.’

He grinned down at her. ‘Today is the day, mark your calendars, the day Hermione the-brightest-witch-of-our-age Granger has finally acknowledged my brilliance!’

Harry and Ron both laughed at that, as Hermione huffed, seemingly annoyed.

She wasn’t. She really never was nowadays, not when it came to Draco.

'Mr. Malfoy’, McGonagall said, stopping next to him on her way to the teacher’s table. ‘I think that food would go down easier if it were eaten sitting down.'

Draco nodded, promptly moving to sit down at the Gryffindor table.

‘Draco!’, McGonagall shrieked.

‘Sorry’, he snickered, being anything but. He winked at Hermione and grinned at Harry before skipping his way back towards the Slytherin table.

‘Unbelievable’, McGonagall muttered under her breath, making Hermione stifle a giggle.

But after she left‚ Harry and Ron were both giving her a look.

'What?'

'It really is unbelievable'‚ Harry said. 'That Malfoy’s pretty much a part of this used-to-be trio.'

'But what’s _not_ unbelievable'‚ Ron went on, 'is how much he fancies you.'

'He does not-‘, Hermione wasn’t even able to say the word. ‘It’s not like that.’

Harry and Ron snorted, in sync, looking at her with pity and amusement.

‘Focus’, she said strongly. ‘We have a job to do.’

‘Getting you snogging Malfoy is not our job!’, Ron said, looking appalled.

Hermione threw some peas at his face, and turned to Harry, pointedly ignoring his snickering and making a plan for _Felix_ and Slughorn.

◊

When Harry said the word _Horcrux_ , Draco froze.

‘You know what it is’, Harry looked at him.

Draco shook his head. ‘No, but I heard the word before.’

‘What did he say?’, Harry insisted.

‘Just that he needs to keep the Horcrux safe.’

‘It’s not just one, I saw it in Slughorn’s memory. He wanted to make seven.’, Harry sighed.

‘But what the bloody hell _is_ a Horcrux?’, Hermione hissed.

His answer made her close her eyes and take a few deep breaths. There were two already destroyed, one by Harry and one by Dumbledore, but…

Hermione shuddered.

‘Shit’, Draco said with feeling. ‘Fucking. Shit.’

But he also wrapped a hand around Hermione’s shoulders.

‘Dumbledore asked me to go with him tonight’, Harry said next. ‘He found another Horcrux and he can’t destroy it alone.’

‘Shit’, it was Hermione this time.

‘Don’t forget your wand’, Ron said with an angry edge to his voice.

‘Don’t be stupid’, Draco added.

Hermione just hugged Harry tightly.

◊

Everything was silent. Hogwarts was silent, everyone staring at Dumbledore’s unmoving body.

Hermione forgot to breathe.

And then Harry was there‚ gently caressing the Headmaster’s face. And Hermione cried.

Everyone cried.

McGonagall lit up the tip of her wand. Everyone soon followed.

Everyone cried and Hogwarts was silent. Lit up in grief.

Draco grabbed Hermione’s wrist when the light went out of her wand, and he gently pulled her arm down. But he didn’t let go.

Hogwarts was silent.

And it was interrupted by Hermione’s sob.

◊

‘No’, Harry said. ‘No, Crabbe wouldn’t have done it. He was lowering his wand.’

‘No surprise there’, Draco muttered.

‘It was Snape, in the end. It was always Snape’, Harry ignored him. ‘And I did nothing.’

She pushed their shoulders together, gripping the locket in her hand.

‘It’s fake’, Harry said.

‘What’s R.A.B.?’, Hermione asked after she finished reading the note.

‘Don’t know’, Harry shook his head. ‘But whoever they are, they have the real Horcrux. Which means it was all a waste. All of it.’

Hermione tried to change the topic to the one of Ginny, telling Harry that Ron was okay with it.

She got an annoyed huff, and a pointed look Harry threw to Draco.

‘Don’t start discussions you aren’t prepared to finish.’

He was right, of course he was, so Hermione shut up.

‘I’m not coming back, Hermione’, Harry finally said. ‘I’ve got to finish whatever Dumbledore started. And I don’t know where that’ll lead me, but I’ll let you guys know where I am when I can.’

Hermione looked to Ron, who was smiling at her. Then she looked to Draco, who was rolling his eyes. They knew Harry was going to say this. They’ve discussed it at length, probably before he even made the decision. From their part, it wasn’t really a decision. It was just a fact.

She clicked her tongue. ‘I’ve always admired your courage, Harry. But sometimes, you can be really thick.’

He didn’t even glare at her, he just took it.

Hermione smiled. ‘You don’t really think you’re going to be able to find all those Horcruxes by yourself, do you?’

‘You need us, Potter’, Draco added, coming to Hermione’s side.

‘You want us too, mate’, Ron added, making his way to Harry’s other side.

Together, they shared a last moment at Hogwarts. It was beautiful, like Harry said, but Hermione really thought that what they had, the friendship they’ve developed, was more beautiful than anything else.

She didn’t voice the thought‚ because Draco was sure to tease her for it.

◊

The summer that followed Dumbledore’s death was the worst period of Hermione’s life. Until that moment, at least.

She tried her hardest not to cry every time she spent time with her parents, knowing what she will have to do at the end of summer.

She read and read and read and read every wizarding book she could get her hands on.

She packed. She prepared.

She couldn’t write to her friends. She had no idea what was happening with Harry, with Ron. She didn’t even know _where_ Draco was staying.

She got an invitation to Bill and Fleur’s wedding, at the Burrow. A small note slipped from it, written in Ron’s scrawny letters.

_Door's open from now till 3 seconds before the I-do’s._

She hated the feeling of lifting her wand and pointing it at her parent’s unknowing backs. She hated everything that lead up to this moment in her life.

Hermione hated herself, for feeling relieved when she did it.

◊

She apparated in the Burrow’s garden, and she managed to smile her way through hugs from Ginny and Mrs. Weasely, through re-introducing herself to Fleur and through teasing from the twins, but Ron took one look at her and the smile fell off his face.

'What happened?'

Hermione shook her head, still trying to smile.

‘Hermione’, he said very gently, ‘what did you do?’

She told him, through her tears. Everyone heard and fell completely silent. Ron cursed, but he also wrapped his arms tightly around her and kept on cursing the world for hurting her.

◊

There was a knock on Harry’s front door just as Mad-Eye was explaining to him what the Trace was.

‘Expecting anyone?’, Fred joked to Harry, but it fell flat.

‘I’ll check it out’, Tonks said, leaving before anyone could argue. Remus didn’t follow her, exactly‚ but he stood in the doorway obviously looking after her.

‘Cousin!’, Tonks screeched excitedly before she opened the door.

It took a couple of seconds for Hermione to understand and she did so just as Tonks dragged an obviously flustered Draco inside of the room.

'What are you doing here?'‚ Mad-Eye asked in a very gruff voice.

‘Saw you lot coming in. Not very stealthy, you are.’

‘Draco’, Hermione said, making him look at her for the first time in months. ‘What are you doing _here_?’

He ducked his head, looking to Harry. ‘I’ve been here all summer. I may have bought the house across the street and I may have been keeping an eye on you.’

That was followed by silence, which was broken by Harry, albeit a bit late.

‘Thanks, mate. You could’ve stopped by for tea.’

Draco scrunched up his nose. But Moody quickly turned the discussion to what it was supposed to be, and just a few minutes later, Hermione was in Harry’s body, completely appalled by his terrible eyesight.

‘Malfoy!’, Moody roared and one of the Harrys lifted an arm.

‘You got a broom?’

Hermione has never seen Harry’s face grinning evily like that.

‘Wait!’, Mundungus said urgently. ‘If he’s here now, you don’t need me.’

He didn’t wait, he just dissaparated away.

‘Who was that?’, Harry asked, clearly the original one.

‘Better off not knowing’, Hermione said.

◊

She couldn’t sleep. She’s been tossing and turning for hours, counted Ginny’s breaths till she reached 4000, and Hermione still couldn’t sleep.

Meeting her resolve, she made her way out of the room as silently as possible and made her way out of the house, to the shed where Draco insisted he’d sleep.

There was light coming out of it, and the barn door was open. Draco was sitting on a ridiculously large amount on blankets, back against the barn’s wall, reading an alarmingly large book. He was wearing pajama pants and a thin tshirt, and his feet were bare.

He didn’t notice her, so Hermione took a few seconds to just look at him, take in everything that was Draco Malfoy.

He was a lot, and he was a lot to her. But they were at war, Hermione didn’t have the luxury of thinking about matters of the heart.

She knocked on the door, startling Draco, but he closed the book and smiled at her.

‘Couldn’t sleep?’

Hermione shook her head. ‘Apparently I’m not the only one.’

Draco tilted his head, as much of an invitation as she was going to get, but Hermione still made her way inside the barn and sat down next to him on the bed of blankets.

'Is Fred going to be alright?', he asked gravely.

Hermione nodded. ‘It will heal. And you saw him, he’s already cracking jokes. Fred is strong… They all are.’

‘I didn’t really know Moody’, he went on.

‘Me neither’, she sighed. ‘But I feel like he’s just the first name on a list of people I’m going to have to mourn.’

‘That’s good’, Draco said after a beat, shocking her. ‘It means that you realize you’re not going to die.’

She had no answer to that, because she really, really did not realize that.

He took her hand and turned it over, palm up. He gently ran his thumb over it, but Draco was still looking at her.

‘There’s something else, though. Everybody’s worried, yes, but the Weasley’s, they all keep sending you these looks. When you’re not looking. There’s something more going on with you.’

Hermione sighed, feeling her bottom lip tremble.

‘I had to… I erased my parents’ memories of me. They moved to Australia.’

‘That’s far’, he said gently, making her smile.

‘That was rather the point.’

He tilted his head. ‘If given the chance, I probably would have done the same.’

‘That’s what Ginny said’, Hermione smiled. ‘It helps.’

They were silent for a while, Draco’s fingers still running over Hermione’s palm.

He opened his mouth to say something, but they were both startled by Ron coming into the barn. He looked mildly angry and mostly annoyed, and he was carrying Harry’s backpack.

‘Oh good, you’re awake’, Ron said sarcastically, just as Harry made his way in as well.

But Harry hesitated, when Ron didn’t. It made the ginger boy huff impatiently, and he grabbed Harry, all but throwing him on the blankets between Hermione and Draco.

‘He was gonna leave’, Ron crossed his arms over his chest‚ glaring at Harry. ‘He was going to leave, now, without us.’

‘Damn it, Harry’, Hermione said strongly, making all the boys startle. ‘What is the matter with you? We know you have to leave, we know what you have to do, but _fuck_ , Harry, you don’t have to DO IT ALONE.’

She yelled the last part, and they were all staring at her with various levels of shock.

‘I knew it’, a new voice said, and when they turned to the door, Ginny was there. ‘You’re all leaving. To look for Horcruxes.’

‘Ginny’, Harry said softly, but she just shook her head.

‘Good’, she finally said. ‘Good.’

‘About that’, Draco said, hesitantly.

When Hermione looked at him, she could already see it in his eyes. ‘You don’t want to come anymore.’

‘I want to’, he said quickly, looking at her. ‘Trust me when I say that I want to go with you. But…’

He turned to look at Ginny, which seemed to have surprised her as well.

‘The Ministry is going to fall, sooner or later. And when that happens‚ it will… _he_ will take over Hogwarts. It’ll be roaming with Death Eaters.’

A harsh look came over Ginny’s features. ‘We can handle them.’

‘I know that’, Draco smiled‚ looking between her and Hermione. ‘I have no doubt that if given the opportunity, you ladies could singlehandedly kill Voldermort.'

He looked to Harry next. ‘You don’t need me if you have your trusty sidekicks.’ To Ginny, again. ‘You don’t need me either, but… I’d rather be at Hogwarts.’

'Nobody has to come with me’, Harry said strongly.

‘That doesn’t mean we won’t, mate’, Ron said around a sigh.

Ginny sighed too, but she also grabbed Harry’s hand.

‘We should get some rest.’

Harry relented and got up, not reacting in any way when Ginny told Ron that he will be sleeping in her bed.

The look on Ron’s face, it was something between disgusted and annoyed and it made Hermione struggle not to laugh out loud. Draco didn’t struggle, he snickered easily.

‘Well’, Ron sighed, looking to Hermione. ‘Are you coming?’

‘She’ll be up in a minute’, Draco said quickly. ‘I just want to run something by her.’

Ron rolled his eyes and groaned out loud, but left. As soon as his back was turned, Draco grabbed a hold of Hermione’s hand again, properly interlacing their fingers.

'What is it?'‚ she asked.

'Nothing'‚ was Draco’s only answer.

He didn’t look away from her, and Hermione didn’t either. Knowing now, that Draco wasn’t going to join them, that he’ll be at Hogwarts again, surrounded by Slytherins who hate him and who knows who as Headmaster… Hermione had no idea when she was going to see him again.

With that thought in mind, Hermione withdrew her hand from Draco’s hold and all but threw herself at him. But Draco reacted quickly, wrapping his arms tightly around her and steadying them both.

She held onto him just as tightly as he held onto her. When she started crying, he sighed and turned his face into her hair, taking a few deep breaths.

‘It’ll be all right’, Draco whispered.

She didn’t believe him, couldn’t.

But when she let him go, Hermione kissed his forehead, before leaving without another word.

◊

‘And to Draco Malfoy’, the Minister read from Dumbledore’s will, ‘I leave something that is not mine, nor Fred and George’s, not Harry’s, but belongs to Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.’

Everyone turned to look at Harry, then.

‘We have no idea what that is referring to’, the Minister said, slowly.

‘I do’, Harry nodded. ‘I’ll take care of it.’

The Minister huffed in annoyance, but didn’t leave before trying to get Harry to endorse him.

‘If there was any doubt that Draco should stay at Hogwarts…’, Hermione said. ‘Dumbledore believed he should.’

‘How did you get that from the nonsense in the will?’, Draco frowned.

But he screeched excitedly when he got his hands on the Marauder’s map.

◊

The wedding was absolutely lovely, up until the moment the message came.

Everybody was scrambling, either to run or to hide, and Hermione was scrambling to gather her boys.

‘You need to go to where I spent last summer’, Draco yelled in Hermione’s ear‚ baffling her.

‘Check the doors’, he insisted.

‘What?’

‘Check the doors, Hermione!’, Draco seemed as frightened as she was.

And then he kissed her, or tried to, at least. His lips ended up hitting the corner of hers, briefly, making Hermione’s heart beat wilder than ever before.

'Go'‚ he said against her cheek.

Then Draco pushed her away, straight into Harry and Ron’s hands. With one last look at him, at the way his lips were smiling but his eyes looked devastated, Hermione closed her eyes and apparated them away.

◊

And then they were on the run, with no idea where to go.

Almost no idea.

When they did get to 12 Grimmauld Place, at first glance it looked exactly the same. But upon further inspection, Hermione realized it was tidy. Covered in dust, yes, but the books were tucked neatly into their shelves, the statues were facing the right way, the paintings were straight on the walls and there was no more clutter.

Draco hadn’t left any of his things behind, but he did leave an impression.

He also left them with a clue, that sent them straight to R.A.B.’s room. Regulus Arcturus Black, the one who tried to destroy the locket. Sirius’s brother.

His room was tidy, every vaguely interesting thing Draco found in it placed neatly on a desk. But no locket.

◊

When Ron left, Hermione was furious, at first.

Then, she was heartbroken.

Then, she was disappointed.

Then, she started thinking if Draco would have done the same as Ron‚ and she was ashamed.

◊

When Harry asked her to dance in their dingy tent‚ Hermione did spend a couple of minutes enjoying herself‚ enjoying her best friend being silly in order to bring up her morale.

And when she started crying‚ Harry held her tightly.

'Are you crying for Ron?'

Hermione nodded.

'Are you crying for your parents?'

Hermione nodded.

‘Are you crying for Draco?’

Hermione hesitated only a second before nodding.

'Are you crying for me?'

Hermione cried harder.

◊

When Ron came back, Hermione was furious. Ecstatic, that they managed to destroy the Horcrux, happy that Ron was back, but furious nonetheless.

Still, she listened to him as he said he wanted to come back the second he left‚ but he couldn’t find them. Listened to him talking about how he didn’t go home, but roamed around, hiding from snatchers.

About how a very weird looking old lady found him in a pub on Christmas Eve.

‘Neville’s grandmother’, he said with wide eyes, ‘is a terrifying woman.’

‘Mrs. Longbottom’, Hermione said slowly, ‘in a pub on Christmas Eve.’

‘I don’t know why, I didn’t ask’, Ron nodded. ‘But she didn’t let me leave. She took me to her home and fed me and made me shower and didn’t let me leave for three days.’

‘That was nice of her'‚ Harry said, diplomatically.

‘That was foolish of her’, Hermione countered, before shaking her head. 'How was Neville?'

‘I didn’t see him‚ he stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays. Just as well’, Ron said next, smiling, digging around in his backpack.

He pulled out a letter and opened it, laying it flat on the table.

'Apparently, Malfoy’s not a complete git. He figured out the spell for the map. So this’, he pulled out a wand, ‘is a boring letter from Neville to his grandma in which he talks about how pretty Hogwarts is in the winter and about which plants are in bloom. But this…’, he turned the letter around, empty side up and tapped his wand against it.

 _‘I solemnly swear that I am up to good’._ , Ron said with a smirk on his face.

Writing appeared on the parchment, just as it did on the map. But it was in Draco’s handwriting, letters tiny and cramped, and the first word was her name.

‘But this is for you'‚ Ron finished.

Hermione grabbed the letter and folded it back, securing it in her pocket.

‘How did you find us again?’, she asked Ron.

‘Grandma Longbottom’, he smiled. ‘Told me that Dumbledore never did things as… simple as a lights on-off switch’, he pulled out the Deluminator. ‘It was when she asked about where I wanted to go, that I started thinking about you, properly. The two of you, all alone in this.’, Ron shook his head. ‘I missed you. And then I heard your voice, Hermione. You just said my name, and it was coming _from_ the Deluminator. I apparated without knowing where, I ended up in this forest, and then I saw that patronus and found Harry.’

‘I am glad you’re back’, Hermione smiled. ‘And thank you for the letter. But I’m still incredibly crossed with you, Ronald Weasley.’

He grinned. ‘I figured as much.’

Hermione left the tent, grabbing a blanket and taking a few deep breaths before opening Draco’s letter.

_Hermione,_

_I really hope you don’t get this letter. Because if you do, you’ll feel terrible that you can’t write me back. And yes, I know the feeling is terrible._

_Finnigan introduced me to the muggle concept of God. I can’t possibly believe in it, nor do I wish to, but I have to admit it’s interesting. The belief that anything that ever happens in the world is because of some omnipotent entity. The ability to blame everything on that entity. It sounds ridiculous to me._

_But I found myself praying. I don’t know to what or whom, but I found myself praying. To see you again. Nothing more, nothing less. Just to meet your eyes._

_Hogwarts is painful. Not all the teachers are Death Eaters, and the ones that are not are on our side. They help as much as they can‚ but punishment is painful and bloody. Neville has stepped up and he’s an inspiration for everyone. The DA is trying its best, and he is a spectacularly good leader, with me as an evil mastermind and Ginny and Luna as his second in command. That’s what they call it, anyway. We tried to steal Gryffindor’s sword‚ we even made it to Snape’s office‚ but it was missing. How curious is that?_

_The only reason I updated you on this is in hopes that you'll stop thinking about it. Don't think about what is happening at school‚ we have it handled. There are more important things to use your brain for._

_Be safe, my friends. Kick some ass and be safe._

_Yours,  
Draco._

Hermione didn’t cry. She didn’t. She just sniffed twice because of the cold and made her way back inside, letting the boys read the letter too.

Draco has said some personal things, but it wasn’t anything _too personal_. And the things he said for Hermione, Ron and Harry knew them already.

‘Jesus’, Harry breathed out.

‘Bless Neville’, Ron grinned.

‘Ginny and Luna too’, Hermione pointed out.

‘Painful’, Harry hissed out through gritted teeth. ‘Painful and bloody.’

‘They’re strong’, Ron said, stubbornly. ‘And Malfoy said that we shouldn’t think about it.’

Hermione blinked, twice. ‘You’re going to listen to Malfoy, now?’, she couldn’t help but smirk.

‘Hermione’, Ron said like he was talking to a small child. ‘With the amount of love there’s between the two of you, I think you’re going to force me to listen to him, sooner or later.’

‘I’d never to that’, she said angrily, ‘I would never force you to like anyone, no matter who they are or what they mean-‘

She stopped when she noticed the fact that both Harry and Ron were looking at her with big eyes.

‘You didn’t even _try_ to deny it’, Harry breathed out.

‘Wow’, Ron whispered. ‘Just wow.’

‘We’re not’, Hermione tried. ‘I mean we haven’t really…’

She couldn’t go on, but the boys seemed to be waiting on her. Hermione shook her head.

‘Well’, Harry said slowly. ‘Acceptance is the first part-‘

‘We have more important things to discuss!'‚ Hermione all but roared, pulling out her book of fairytales.

◊

Hermione was scared when they were caught by snatchers‚ and she was equally scared when they were taken to a dark but gorgeous mansion.

But she grew utterly terrified when her eyes fell upon Bellatrix Lestrange.

They were in the Malfoy Manor and Bellatrix saw the sword and she suspected Harry being Harry and then Hermione was all alone.

Alone in the large room, alone with no Ron and Harry, alone with Bellatrix Lestrange.

‘You’re pretty for a mudblood’, she said sweetly. ‘I can see why Draco likes you.'

Even though Hermione tried not to let anything show, she must have been unsuccessful‚ because Bellatrix laughed and took a few menacing steps forward‚ until she was breathing into Hermione's face.

'Do you really think we didn’t know?’, the older which whispered. ‘That I wouldn’t find out about whom my idiot nephew has a soft spot for?’

She laughed again, the sound making Hermione shiver.

‘You know what the funniest thing is? I don’t even care about that. I don’t care about the traitor. I don’t care about how much he’s… hurt. Going to be hurt.’

With a whispered word from Bellatrix, Hermione fell to the floor, in pain, the _cruciatus_ curse running through her body. She didn’t scream.

‘Where did you get the sword?’, Bellatrix screamed, punching Hermione in the stomach.

Two more times did Bellatrix say _crucio_ , repeating the question, taunting Hermione by insulting her blood and by insulting Draco, and Hermione still didn’t scream. She cried, and kept saying that she doesn’t know where the sword came from, she pleaded with Bellatrix, but she didn’t scream.

The older witch then pinned Hermione’s hands to the floor with magic and straddled her hips, punching her strongly in the chest. Then Bellatrix leaned over until her hair was tickling Hermione’s face.

‘The sword is meant to be in my vault at Gringott’s. How did you get it?’

‘I didn’t take anything’, Hermione sobbed. ‘Please, I didn’t take anything.’

‘I don’t believe it’, Bellatrix said strongly and then she leaned over Hermione’s left arm, brought her wand down to it and…

Hermione screamed like never before.

◊

‘There’s just something I don’t get’, Bill said, cleaning up the word carved in Hermione’s flesh. ‘Why did she pick you? She thought you’re weaker cause you’re a girl? Or because you’re a muggle? It would have made more sense for her to torture Harry.’

‘No’, she shook her head. ‘Draco doesn’t care for Harry as much as he cares for me.’

Bill’s hands stopped moving. ‘Oh’, he breathed out, looked up at her once‚ then got back to tending to her wound.

◊

'Luna'‚ Hermione said gently‚ 'we can't afford to think about it‚ but is Hogwarts… are they killing students?’

‘No’, the blonde girl answered airily. ‘That would mean too little pain. And the Death Eaters enjoy our pain.’

Hermione closed her eyes.

‘They can handle it’, Luna said next. ‘The boys are strong together.’

‘Neviile and Draco?’

Luna smiled at that, nodding. ‘They’re our saviors at Hogwarts’, she whispered, ‘even if they don’t like being called that.’

Despite herself, Hermione smiled. ‘I can only imagine.’

◊

When Harry said they needed to go to Hogwarts, Hermione was ashamed of it, but she was glad, just for a split second.

Not just for the opportunity to see Draco, but Neville and Ginny as well.

Plus, she felt strong at Hogwarts. Death Eaters or not, that was her home, has been since the moment she set foot on the Express for the first time. She felt powerful there.

‘Hermione, when have any of our plans actually worked,?’, Harry said. ‘We plan, we get there, all hell breaks loose.’

‘He’s right’, Ron unhelpfully said.

Hermione shook her head and took a deep breath. ‘Fuck hell’, she whispered, standing up. ‘I’ll use any excuse to see them again.’

She paused for a second. ‘We’re getting to the end, I can feel it.’

‘Yeah’, Harry looked away. ‘Yeah we are.’

‘Might as well happen there’, Hermione whispered. ‘We’ll protect the little ones. Our teachers will fight.’

‘So will our friends’, Ron said after a beat.

‘To Hogwarts, then.’, Harry said.

‘Back home’, Hermione whispered, thinking of blonde hair in dark corners of Hogwarts corridors.

◊

When Neville stepped through the portrait, Hermione jumped into his arms.

‘Whoa there’, Neville was surprised. ‘I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.’

The boys snickered, but Hermione didn’t find the strength to berate them for it.

◊

The Room of Requirement was the most beautiful thing she had seen in a while, filled with her friends, with hope and the will to fight.

Half-way through Harry trying to explain what they were looking for, the door opened.

‘This better be good, Longbottom’, a very annoyed voice said. ‘They’re going to patrol in 30 minutes and I let the first years alone with-

Draco stopped talking when he realized that there was silence around him. He raised his eyes slowly, first landing on Harry. Then they moved to Ron, then to Hermione.

He looked awful, even worse than Neville and Seamus. There was a healing bruise around one of his eyes and one on his jaw, going down under his jumper’s neckline. There were various cuts on his face, a large one very close to his other eye and his bottom lip was split. He had dark circles under his eyes, his lips were very chapped and he had lost weight.

Hermione had missed him so much.

‘Oh’, Draco breathed out, in shock, before it was quickly replaced with furious anger. ‘What the bloody hell are you doing here?’

‘Malfoy’, Ron sounded amused. ‘Shut up.’

Draco bristled, but before he could make a comeback, Ginny came in and there was silence again. Well, except for Ron mumbling about how _he_ was her family, not Harry.

Hermione still hadn’t looked away from Draco, and he hadn’t either.

‘What’s wrong, Ginny?’, Neville asked with authority.

‘Snape knows’, she said quickly. ‘He knows that Harry was spotted in Hogsmeade.’

‘Fuck’, Draco said pointedly, still looking at Hermione.

‘Fuck things up, actually'‚ Hermione smiled. ‘Cause I have an idea and it’s mad.’

◊

Hermione walked into the Great Hall standing between Kingsley and Ron. It hurt her, seeing Hogwarts like this, but Harry’s words hurt more.

And then Snape drew out his wand, and of course McGonagall defended Harry, making Snape flee and easily knocking out the Carrows.

When Voldermort started talking‚ everyone fell silent and unmoving. Except for Draco‚ who came to Hermione’s side‚ and Ginny, who ran to Harry.

‘What are you waiting for?'‚ Pansy yelled. 'Someone grab him.'

Hermione and Ginny were the first to move and put themselves between the Slytherin and Harry, but Draco stepped in front of them, going as far as raising his wand and pointing it at Pansy. Soon, other members of the DA followed and surrounded Harry, but Draco was still at the front.

‘Honestly, Pansy’, he said evenly, ‘it’s like you forgot your brains in your other robes.’

Flinch came running then, and it was the first time Hermione heard McGonagall use an ugly word. ‘Idiot’ wasn’t that bad, but coming from her, it was something.

‘As it happens, Mr. Filch’, she was saying, ‘your arrival is most opportune. If you would, I would like you, please, to lead Miss Parkinson and the rest of Slytherin House from the hall.’

‘Exactly where is it I’ll be leading them to, Ma’am?’, Filch said.

‘The dungeons would do.’

There were cheers, but Draco’s loud voice cut them off. He rattled out a couple of names, telling McGonagall that those Slytherins will be staying behind to fight.

The teacher didn’t even hesitate before nodding.

As the Slytherins were led out, Pansy stopped by Draco’s side. She forcefully grabbed a hold of his elbow, and he looked ready for a fight, but he stopped, surprised, when he saw that her eyes were wet.

‘Don’t you dare die’, she said angrily. ‘Do you hear me, Draco? Don’t you _dare_.’

He just nodded once, but there was a small smile on his face, which Pansy returned before turning around and leaving. And then Draco was by Hermione’s side again, holding her hand even as he pointed out the need to go to the Chamber of Secrets to get the Basilisk fangs.

‘I’d love to go with you’, he said as he was done, ‘but I’m better with explosions’, he waved his wand around, ‘than I am with parseltongue.’

Hermione just stared at him, clutching to his hand. He smiled down at her, grabbing the map from his pocket and extending it in Ron’s general direction.

‘I’ll just wait over there’, he mumbled, ‘facing the other way.'

Draco snorted at that, but did not look away from Hermione. After a few seconds, when Ron was surely away, he shook his head.

‘You are mental’, he whispered. ‘The things you did-‘

‘I’m sure you don’t know the half of it’, Hermione pulled a face.

‘I know’, Draco nodded, his eyes growing wide.  ‘Exactly.’

Hermione whined, feeling herself about to cry. ‘I missed you so much.’

Draco let go of her hand and put his wand in his back pocket before he gently grabbed her cheeks in both of his hands, running his fingers slowly over her skin.

‘If we both survive this, I will never leave your side for this long ever again.’

That sounded… marvelous and safe and quite close to forever, so Hermione pushed on her tiptoes as Draco lowered his head and she may have whined again, when their lips finally met.

She was mindful of his split lip, careful with how much pressure she applied on it, but Hermione made up for it with how tightly she was clutching as his hips.

Hermione whined again when Draco trapped her lower lip between his, and after that he pulled away.

She reopened her eyes just in time to see him swallow thickly. Draco smiled, hands still on her cheeks, thumb under her bottom lit.

‘Weasley!’, he said loudly.

‘I know, I know’, Ron’s voice was getting closer. ‘You’ll kill me if she gets hurt.’

‘Obviously.’, Draco deadpanned. He gave Hermione another quick kiss before grabbing her hand and kissing that as well.

‘I’ll see you later’, Hermione said, strongly.

‘That you will’, Draco smiled. ‘That you will.’

He took off in a run, and Ron was looking at her like he looked at Harry every time Ginny was in the room. She grabbed his hand and hurried towards the Chamber of Secrets, trying her best not to think about how good Draco’s lips felt on hers.

◊

As the water settled around them in the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione was dripping wet, heart still beating wildly in her chest, and Ron was still holding her hand.

‘That was brilliant, Hermione’, he said.

‘It really wasn’t’, she shivered.

‘It’s not easy, destroying a Horcrux’, Ron insisted. ‘I could bloody kiss you right now.’

Hermione laughed, because he didn’t really mean it, and because they were both pumped with adrenaline.

‘That ship has sailed’, she finally settled on saying.

‘I know’, Ron looked to her, still grinning. ‘But I still love you, you beautiful, brilliant witch.’

She laughed again, kissed his cheek, making Ron’s grin grow even wider. Then she pulled him out of the Chamber and they went to find Harry.

◊

They found Harry in the Room of Requirement, with Crabbe and Goyle’s wands pointed at him.

‘Filthy mudblood’, Crabbe sneered at her, even after she disarmed him. ‘Draco is a fool-‘

‘He’s a better man than you could ever be'‚ she cut him off.

It made Crabbe smile. 'When our Dark Lord wins, and you will be at his mercy, I will take great _pleasure_ in making you scream.’

Ron roared and ran at him, then, and just as Harry got his hand around the diadem, Hermione smelt something burning.

‘Run!’, Ron yelled, and they did.

They didn’t manage to save Crabbe from the flames, and Hermione spared a few seconds of feeling sorry for his death.

But they did save Goyle‚ and Harry did destroy the Horcrux. He was shaking so badly afterwards, panting and swearing, Hermione was terrified. For him.

She wanted to kick Ron for making Harry look into Voldermort’s head, but… it hit her, then. Than Harry shouldn’t have been able to know that the snake was a Horcrux. He shouldn’t feel it, every time a Horcrux was destroyed. And he shouldn’t be able to feel them if he’s close.

Hermione didn’t voice her thoughts. They were too horrible for words.

◊

They had to run through half the school and the courtyard. Hermione nearly died thrice and her heart broke over and over again, as she stepped over bodies of the people she knew.

She saw monsters, giants and trolls, werewolves and Death Eaters. She saw third years yelling _Avada Kedavra._ She saw so much blood, so much destruction. And she couldn’t stop to think about it.

There was a flash of blonde in the corner of her eye, and she turned just in time to see Draco saving Lavender's life. Their eyes locked and Draco didn’t hesitate in running after Hermione, joining their group.

‘Did you get the Ravenclaw Horcrux?’, he yelled as he killed a giant spider.

‘Yeah’, Ron yelled back as he set a Death Eater on fire.

‘Where are we going?’, Draco yelled as he made a part of the castle fall on top of a group of Death Eaters that were rounding on two Slytherin boys.

'The snake's the last one'‚ Harry yelled as he conjured his patronus to join Aberforth’s.

Draco swore loudly and wordlessly saved Hermione’s life from a Death Eather she hadn’t noticed.

◊

When Voldermort slit Snape's throat right under their eyes, Ron had to keep Draco back from rushing in.

He did so as soon as Voldermort was gone, Harry hot on his heels.

‘Take them’, Snape sobbed, indicating his tears. Harry got them, as Draco applied pressure to Snape's wounds.

'You have your mother's eyes'‚ he told Harry, before turning to Draco.

‘My boy-‘

‘Thank you’, Draco cut him off, his voice breaking.

He didn’t say anything else, and Snape didn’t either, giving his last breath, just as Voldermort started talking inside their heads.

◊

Draco stopped at Tonks’s dead body‚ even though he didn’t look surprised. Ron rushed to his brother’s. Harry made it past them both before turning around and rushing out of the room, heading for the Headmaster's office.

Hermione allowed herself the luxury of crying. She felt arms wrapping around her and when she saw a Slytherin tie, for a second she thought it was Draco. But the dark skin wasn’t his, it belonged to Blaise Zambini.

He said nothing as he dragged her down on a bench, and he didn’t let go of her.

‘Let it out, little witch’, he gently patted her hair. ‘You’ll need your strengths for what comes next.’

Hermione cried harder and he held her through it.

◊

After an indistinguishable amount of time, Ron and Draco found her.

Ron grabbed her hand and Draco squeezed Zambini’s shoulder.

‘Let’s find Potter’, Draco said without emotion.

Ron dragged her up and they found Harry on the floor of the Headmaster’s office.

'You can’t give yourself up to him'‚ Ron pleaded with Harry‚ but Hermione stopped him.

There were tears in Harry's eyes and his lower lip was trembling. 'There’s a reason I can hear them, the Horcruxes. I think I’ve known for a while. And I think you have too, Hermione.’

She started crying again. ‘I'll go with you.’

‘No, kill the snake!’, Harry said strongly. ‘Kill the snake and then it’s just him.’

Hermione hugged him tightly, but Harry didn’t let her do it for too long. He kissed her forehead and hugged Ron as well, the two of them clutching to one another harder than she has ever seen them before.

Then Harry turned to Draco, who promptly punched him in the jaw.

‘I deserve that’, Harry said. It didn’t look like he was in pain.

Draco hugged him then, cursing in his ear.

‘You take care of her’, Harry stared into Draco’s eyes. ‘You take care of them.’

‘Bloody hell’, Draco breathed out. ‘I’ll kill Voldermort. For you and for Snape.'

'He’s been on our side'‚ Harry whispered. ‘Since the moment my mother died.’

‘I know’, Draco nodded. ‘I’ve known for a while.’

Harry took a deep breath and smiled, small and shakily at Hermione.

‘Tell Ginny…’

‘I will’, she cried when he didn’t go on. ‘I promise I will.’

Draco pushed Harry. 'Go, Potter. End this.’

◊

Harry, unbreathing in Hagrid’s arms, surrounded by Death Eaters in the place she used to love the most on this Earth, it was the most horrible thing Hermione has seen in her life. Ginny’s scream was the most horrible thing she has ever heard.

She wanted them all to _burn._

‘Harry Potter is dead’, Voldermort said. ‘From this day forth, you put your faith in me.’

He laughed, a horrible sound that cut through to Hermione’s heart. She took a step forward but Draco held her back.

‘And now is the time to declare yourself’, Voldermort said next. ‘Come forward and join us. Or die.’

In the silence that followed, Bellatrix skipped on a couple of stones.

‘Draco, dear’, she sang, ‘it’s time for you to stop this nonsense.’

Hermione felt him shiver and he squeezed her fingers tightly.

‘Nonsense’, he said shakily but loud, ‘is the way your master killed your sister with his bare hands.’

Bellatrix blinked at that, seemingly surprised.

‘No’, Draco said strongly. ‘No.’

‘Ah’, Voldermort smiled. ‘The stubbornness of youth. We’ll fix you, boy. I’m not killing you yet.’

As Nevile stepped forward, Draco turned to look at him. There was so much hurt in Draco’s eyes, thinking that Neville was seriously considering joining.

But then Neville started talking, and Draco’s eyes weren’t the only ones who lit up with pride and filled with tears.

‘People die every day’, Neville yelled before calming himself. ‘Friends, family… Yeah. We lost Harry tonight. But he’s still with us, in here’, he pointed at his chest. ‘So’s Fred, and Remus. Tonks… All of them. They didn’t die in vain.’

Neville turned to Voldermort again. ‘But you will. Because you’re wrong.’

Voldermort chuckled, as Neville kept shouting.

‘Harry’s heart did beat for us. For all of us. This is not over!’

And then he did the unthinkable, pulling out the sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat.

And Harry did the unthinkable, by rising to life and aiming his wand at the snake.

As Voldermort went after Harry, some Death Eaters ran away, and the rest of them ran after the student who headed back inside the castle.

It was chaos, but Ron and Draco flanked her and they fought together, trying to get to the snake, Ron clutching a Basilisk fang in his fist.

Their path was stopped by Bellatrix, who snarled at Draco.

‘Go’, he said strongly, pushing Hermione away. ‘Kill the snake, while I take care of this one.’

Hermione didn’t want to, but Ron pulled her away, just as she heard both Bellatrix and Draco yell _crucio_. She couldn’t turn to look at them.

She felt detached, as she baited the snake, as it slithered towards her. Hermione couldn’t think of dying, of the pain it could inflict on her.

She just wanted it all to end.

Ron dropped the fang when the snake attacked him, and they had to run. Run and run and run down the stairs.

Hermione knew she was about to die, and for the first time in a very long while, she prayed to a god she didn’t believe in. She prayed for Voldermort’s death, and nothing else.

When Hermione found herself on the floor, wrapped in Ron’s arms, the snake closing in on them, she thought of Draco’s blonde hair and the fact that she never got to run her fingers through it.

Neville’s roar cut through her chest just as the sword cut through the snake. Black blood splattered all over her, and she turned shocked eyes to Ron, shocked that they were still alive.

And then Voldermort’s yell was heard everywhere, and Hermione got up and ran to the outside court‚ Ron and Neville hot on her heels. She heard another set of footsteps and she didn’t have to turn around to see it was Draco, she knew it from the way his hand felt in hers.

◊

The silence that followed Voldermort’s final death was deafening.

Hermione still felt detached. Her body ached in ways she has never felt before, she was covered in blood and not all of it was her own, Harry was kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily and staring at the place where Voldermort stood just seconds before.

‘Damn it, Potter’, Draco said angrily, making Harry turn to look towards them. ‘Must you always have all the fun? I said I’d do it, you didn’t let me do it.’

Harry smiled, a bit. ‘I’ll let you next time.’

Neville started laughing at that, pretty hysterically. He and Ron ran to Harry’s side, and Hermione will follow, she just needs to do something else before that.

She turned to Draco, did a quick spell to fix his split lip, fisted her fingers in his hair and Hermione kissed Draco Malfoy as strongly and as desperately as she had been wanted to do for months, maybe even years.

But it was alright, because Draco’s fingers were digging bruises on her waist, until they weren’t, his hands moving to her hair. They didn’t stop kissing, as Draco drew Hermione’s hair out of the braid it was in.

‘This is the best your hair has ever looked’, he said against her lips, and Hermione kissed him again.

◊

Minutes or hours later, someone cleared their throat. Turning around, Hermione saw Harry glaring, slightly.

‘This is lovely and all, but I want to do the same with my girlfriend, and Neville wants to get Luna to be his girlfriend, and you’re blocking our way in.’

‘Damn it’, Ron groaned. ‘This is the most horrible thing to have ever happen.’

They all stared at him.

‘Really, Weasley?’, Draco drawled out. ‘Really?’

Ron had the decency to look sheepish, which made them all start laughing.

◊

A woman walked into the Great Hall, carrying a baby bag and a baby dressed in an electric green onesie. Hermione didn’t recognize her, but she recognized something in her eyes, as they strayed to Draco and didn’t move away.

Draco, for his part, snapped up from where he was sitting and looked with wide eyes to the woman, as she made her way towards them.

‘Who killed my daughter?’, the woman asked in a strong voice.

‘Bellatrix’, Draco breathed out, making the woman falter, closing her eyes.

When she opened them, they were softer as they looked to Draco.

‘And did you kill Bellatrix?’

Draco shook his head. ‘I couldn’t. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. It was Molly Weasley, in the end.’

The woman took a deep breath. ‘Good’.

Finally, Hermione realized that this was Tonks’s mother, Draco’s aunt. Which meant that the baby …

‘Is that Teddy?’, she asked.

The woman smiled at her, even as her eyes were teary. ‘I’m sorry we didn’t meet each other sooner, Hermione.’

She turned back to Draco. ‘Hold him, while I say goodbye to my daughter.’

Andromeda handed Teddy to a very startled Draco. Hermione took the baby bag and couldn’t help but laugh at how terrified he looked.

Hermione made him sit down, helped him set Teddy comfortably in his lap. The baby warmed up to Draco instantly, smiling up at him and playfully hitting his chest.

‘He’s adorable’, Hermione said, resting her head on Draco’s shoulder.

Teddy took notice of this, and smiled at her too, as he wrapped his little fingers around Hermione’s hair.

‘Hey’, Draco said, mildly annoyed, taking Teddy’s hand away from Hermione’s hair. ‘That’s mine.’

She spluttered. ‘It’s _my_ hair!’

‘Well, yeah, but…’, Draco was blushing and when Hermione understood where his mind was at, she blushed as well.

‘That’s not as romantic as you think’, she finally said, settling her head back on his shoulders.

‘I’ll work on it’, he smirked.

‘See that you will’, Hermione chuckled.

‘Is that my godson?’, Harry’s voice startled them, neither of them having heard him approach.

‘Is he?’, Draco asked, confused.

‘Yes’, Hermione said. ‘That’s what Remus wanted.’

‘Teddy’, Harry said happily, sitting on Draco’s other side and taking the baby from him.

And then Ron and Ginny came over, crowding over Harry, and Neville and Luna sat down on Hermione’s other side, all of them looking at Teddy.

Draco’s hand slipped in Hermione’s, and she smiled at him, exhausted and in grief, but happy to have him by her side, and happy to be surrounded by their friends.

Despite of their losses, the war was over, and they were together. They have made mistakes on the way, and they have done things they didn’t want to. But they’d get passed it, Hermione knew.

They have all been through so much, together and separately, she knew they will be able to face everything that came next. They were stronger together.

‘Where in all the seven hells’, McGonagall screeched, suddenly in front of them, ‘did you get a baby?’

‘Professor’, Hermione grinned. ‘Meet Teddy Lupin.’

Understanding came over her features, and she smiled at Teddy, who was busy munching on Harry’s fingers. Her eyes then moved across all of them.

‘I should say something inspirational’, McGonagall sighed, ‘something wise and helpful. I can’t think of anything.’

‘Tomorrow is a new day’, Hermione said gently.

‘Yes it is, Miss Granger’, McGonagall smiled at her. ‘Yes it is.’

Teddy laughed then, for reasons unknown, but they all followed suit, albeit not as loudly.

◊

Four months later, Hermione spent the afternoon at Pivet Drive. Not the 4th house on the street, where Harry spent his childhood, but in the one at number 7, which Draco was slowly turning into his home.

The past 4 months have been … busy. There were a lot of funerals, and a lot of days spent in the Ministry, explaining everything that happened since the moment Harry started school.

But now it was over, and Hermione was allowed to think about herself. She didn’t know what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, but she knew it will be something she will take her time to think on. There was no reason to rush into a decision, she had time.

What she did know with certainty was that her life will always have Harry in it. Ron, Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys, with Luna and Neville in the periphery.

And Draco.

Draco, who was currently sprawled on the floor of his living room, with Teddy sitting on his chest, babbling baby nonsense at him.

‘Whatever you say, buddy’, Draco smiled. ‘Whatever you say.’

‘Bah!’, Teddy agreed.

Draco turned to Hermione. ‘I should take him back to Andromeda. If you can wait, we can order some dinner. I won’t be long.’

Hermione nodded, helping Draco pack up Teddy’s things and kissing the baby’s cheek before they left through the Floo.

It didn’t take long for Draco to come back, and they ordered some Chinese food and put on a movie. By the end of it, Hermione was half asleep, with her head in Draco’s lap and his fingers running through it.

'Sweetheart'‚ he said‚ 'you should head home.’

‘I don’t want to’, Hermione mumbled, making Draco chuckle.

‘You’re falling asleep on me.’

‘So?’, she countered.

Draco paused, and his fingers stopped moving in her hair.

‘You want to stay?’, he whispered.

Hermione turned around until her head was facing up and she could see him looking down at her.

‘Would that be alright?’, she asked slowly.

‘Won’t your parents mind?’, he frowned, making her smirk.

‘No, I’ve already told them I’m sleeping here.’

His eyebrows rose at that, and his cheeks flushed.

‘Get your mind out of the gutter, Draco’, she snickered, getting up. ‘I’m just going to spend the night in my favorite old pajamas, sleep next to my boyfriend and steal his pillow.’

‘Bossy’, he seemed to snap out of it. ‘You’re terribly bossy.’

‘You’re not complaining’, Hermione pointed out, making her way up the stairs to his bedroom, heading straight into the bathroom.

When she came out, really wearing a terribly old pair of pajama bottoms and a quidditch shirt she stole from Ginny, Draco was changing the sheets on his bed.

She smiled at that, brightly and wildly, while he scowled. When he was done, Hermione wasted no time in getting into bed and waiting for him to come out of the bathroom.

Draco shut off the lights and didn’t hesitate in getting under the covers, but once there, he did. So Hermione pushed herself closer to him, until he could wrap an arm around her shoulders and she could feel his heartbeat under her fingertips.

‘Pansy wrote to me today’, he whispered.

‘How is she?’, Hermione asked.

‘Well, it seems. She said she… we grew up together, she doesn’t want to shove that under the rug.’

‘That’s nice, I think’, Hermione said after a beat. ‘I think you could still be friends, if you work on it.’

‘And you wouldn’t mind?’, Draco’s hold on her tightened.

Hermione shook her head against his chest. ‘Not at all.’

‘Alright’, Draco sighed. ‘I’ll write to her tomorrow.’

They were silent for a couple of minutes, and it was Hermione that broke it.

‘Draco? Could I get a goodnight kiss?’

He chuckled, but he also angled her head up until their lips could meet. It was a sweet kiss, that Hermione was used to getting by now, but it was new, because of where they were.

She could feel his heartbeat against her chest, and his hand had sneaked under the hem of her shirt, his fingers raising goosebumps against her skin.

When Draco bit gently on her lower lip, Hermione took a sharp breath and in a swift move, she rolled on top of Draco until she was properly straddling his hips.

Draco froze at that, completely. ‘I thought you said you were just going to sleep’, he breathed out.

‘Later’, Hermione smirked, kissing him again.

This kiss was not as soft as before, it was faster and deeper and wetter. Draco’s hands were setting Hermione’s body on fire, while his lips were grounding her.

But eventually, their desperation and force did die down, and Hermione felt herself getting sleepy again.

Draco chuckled, but he moved her around until they were both comfortable, still wrapped up in each other’s arms.

‘We have enough time for that, Hermione’, he whispered playfully. ‘All the time in the world.’

She smiled at that, settling in for the night. But he wasn’t done yet.

‘My life could have been very different from this’.

‘Yes’, Hermione agreed. ‘But it’s not.’

‘It’s not’, he squeezed her tightly. ‘And this is more than I could have ever hoped for.’

Despite the fact that she was blushing furiously, Hermione huffed.

'Don’t get sappy on me, Malfoy. I might get used to it.’

He snorted. ‘That wouldn’t be the worst thing.’

No, Hermione thought. It really wouldn’t.


End file.
